OASYS Successfully Concludes Trainer-of-Trainers Workshop on Positive Youth Development

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Opportunities to Advance and Support Youth for Success (OASYS) Project is pleased to announce the successful completion of the Positive Youth Development Trainer-of-Trainers Workshop, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Held in Saint Lucia from August 19 to August 22, 2024, the three-day workshop brought together youth advocates and technical specialists in juvenile justice and reform to equip them with the essential tools and strategies for fostering positive growth and development among young people. The Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework recognizes the importance of youth participation in the development agenda. It promotes meaningful youth engagement in which power between youth and adults is shared and the contributions of the youth are valued. Their ideas, perspectives skills and strengths are integrated into the design and delivery of interventions, programs, strategies and policies. 

Delivering remarks at the workshop’s opening ceremony, Dr Roxanne Brizan-St. Martin, Programme Director- Health, Social Inclusion and Social Protection at the OECS Commission, highlighted that the workshop is closely linked to the OASYS Project. The project prioritizes interventions for children and youth to enhance opportunities for success. It aims to strengthen child and youth justice systems across six (6) OECS Member States, namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. She stated that, 

“This training exercise falls under component C, that of institutional and systems strengthening. It will seek to equip you, youth advocates, with the necessary tools for building positive growth and development capacity in youth as well as to build institutional and national capacity within the OECS Commission and Member States. The role of youth is sacrosanct in the development agenda. We are reminded that within our small island developing states and our resource constraints-our people are our most valuable resource and within the context of sustainable development-our youth are our foundation.” 

Dr Charmaine Hippolyte Emmanuel, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, Saint Lucia, also helped welcome youth advocates to the PYD Trainer of Trainers three-day workshop. Remarking,

“Today’s opportunity is an engagement that leads to eternity. An opportunity that will allow you to shape your leaders and your business. Rest assured that you are shaping tomorrow’s leaders innovators, and change-makers. We must ensure that they are equipped not just with information, but with the confidence, resilience, and sense of purpose that will allow them to navigate life’s complexities and contribute positively to their communities.”

The primary objective of the Trainer-of-Trainers workshop was to enhance the institutional and national capacity of youth advocates in the region to integrate Positive Youth Development principles into policy and programmatic frameworks for the sustainable development of youth. It is aligned with the strategic priorities of the OECS Commission, notably, the OECS Youth Empowerment Strategy with an emphasis on training technical personnel working to divert, rehabilitate and reintegrate children and youth in conflict with the law through the OASYS Project. 

In addition to its alignment with the OECS Youth Empowerment Strategy, OASYS is funded by USAID. As part of its respective Youth Empowerment Strategy, USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean has invested in activities that support Positive Youth Development (PYD) such as primary and secondary prevention programs, juvenile justice reform interventions, and activities geared toward improving the overall evidence base for youth crime and violence policies and interventions. ​ 

The workshop was highly interactive and featured working sessions including a teachback session. In this session, the countries drafted a national training plan applying the concepts learnt, keeping their national contexts and experiences in mind. Having completed the training, youth advocates are expected to continue the rollout of the PYD in their respective countries in collaboration with the OASYS Project Management Team by facilitating a minimum of two training sessions for national stakeholders utilizing the content covered in the three-day workshop. Training for the first cohort is expected to commence in September 2024.