OECS Engages Citizens on Key Development Issues

Vini Koze Public Education Forum Series Gathers Momentum

The OECS has begun engaging citizens of Member States on issues impacting their lives, the challenges facing the region, and the development opportunities for the OECS and its people. The Public Education Forum Series, dubbed Vini Koze – Kweyol for ‘Come chat’ – is aimed at educating and informing the people of the OECS on the social, economic and political benefits of Regional Integration. It seeks to ensure citizen engagement and active participation in the Regional Integration process. 

Each Forum features a Panel comprising representatives of government, the private sector, an international organization, civil society, and the NGO Community. The Forum is held before a live audience who engage panelists in discussion through a moderator.

The Forum Series commenced in the BVI in mid-January. The BVI Forum evoked discussion on successes in Education in the OECS, and created greater awareness of deficiencies. It also generated a range of fresh ideas, strategies and possible solutions that can be applied in creating a better education system across Member States.

Head of the Education Unit at the OECS Marcellus Albertin, notes that while the region has recorded some success in Education, an estimated 70 percent of students within the secondary school system are under-performing, with some eventually becoming high school ‘dropouts.’ 

The second Forum on Youth Empowerment and Development was held in Anguilla. Director of Youth and Culture in Anguilla, Bren Romney, notes that youth account for about 60 percent of the global population. He says society has a responsibility to create an environment conducive to the positive growth and development of youth.

Elbert Ellis, a Social Analyst and Operations Officer at the Social Sector Division of the Caribbean Development Bank, believes Caribbean society must guard against policies, measures and approaches which could frustrate young people.

The Anguilla Forum also addressed youth unemployment, youth crime and violence, the juvenile justice system, as well as development opportunities for young persons, especially in the areas of education, sports, and the arts.

The OECS Public Education Forum Series (PEFS) will run until March 2017. It is being staged across six (6) OECS Member States including The BVI, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Martinique and will be televised across the OECS upon completion.  The Forum Series is part of the public education component of the Economic Integration and Trade Programme of the OECS region, funded by the 10th European Development Fund.  

The next Forum is slated for Dominica this Friday, February 10th, from 1pm - 3pm at The Fort Young Hotel.  It will focus on Climate Change, its impact on small island developing states, as well as adaptation and mitigation measures being implemented by OECS Member States.

Radio Promo - Climate Change Forum (Dominica)

MP3 - 2.7 Mb

Ramon Peachey

OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Tahira Carter

OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Phillip Cupid

OECS Communications, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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About The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

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