Youth Human Rights in the Virgin Islands: A Message to Our Elders & My Fellow Youth on the Importance of Shared Decision Making in Our Community

(Note: This speech was presented by Genevieve during her participation as a guest speaker for the ROTARACT Club of St. Croix’s “Takeover” of the Rotary Mid-Isle Club Meeting at Gertrude’s on September 23, 2009)

Ø KOFI ANNAN (the former U.N. Secretary General) once stated:

Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society's margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies."

HE ALSO STATED:

"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline."

Ø Kofi Anna’s statements speak to important principles that we must as a community embrace more fully. The principles of full participation and inclusion are at the center of a notion that is often discussion in our community, i.e., the notion of that young people have the right to participate in the shared decision making within their community. To establish context to this discussion, let us first begin start off with a definition of youth participation:

o Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities. It is often used as a short-hand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged…

o Today’s is a great example of youth participation, this Takeover Meeting Rotaract Club of St. Croix taking over/hosting of today’s Rotary Mid Isle meeting.

o The mere fact that Rotary Mid Isle is the sponsor club of Rotaract Club of St. Croix demonstrates that youth participation is important to segments of our population and that Rotary Mid Isle and other organizations like itself are made up of dedicated men and women who have a vested interest in supporting our communities future leaders.

So now, does that mean that the work is over? Far from! Although there are organizations in our community that promote youth leadership development and civic engagement within our community, there are many young adults within our community that are not interested in civics. Too often when I speak to my fellow members of Generation Y and the members of Generation X there is a shared apathy of non-interest in the participation the electoral process and the overall democratic governance.

As one youth expressed to me during one of my radio program episodes, where we were discussing youth Virgin Islands young people/Virgin Islands youth are often tokenized at best and are at times manipulated, placing them at the bottom of Hart’s Ladder (referring to Roger A. Hart, an environmental psychologist who has written numerous pieces on the important of youth participation and is the creator of the Ladder of Young People’s Participation). Picture this ladder…at the bottom of this ladder (termed Rung 1), young people are manipulated in contrast with the top Rung, Rung 8, where young people are part of the decision making with adults. Where does this leave us? And do the words of this young leader have any merit? I believe that they do and believe that the time is now for us to reassess our belief in the following statement that “Our children are our future.” The time is now to equip our youngest citizens with the tools necessary for their success.

I have enjoyed engaging young people in the political process, namely, encouraging young people to become more aware of what is taking place in their community and organizing themselves around issues that are near and dear to them.

We are in a great age, the information age, and so I urge young people to utilize the tools that they have to get together, in fact, I have asked my communication students at UVI to devise model communication models aimed at addressing an issue using social media tools such as Facebook. Perhaps it is a cultural issue why the apathy towards youth participation in democratic governance is prevalent in our community. However, we are not to focus on the problem rather we are to work together to offer solutions and to implement them.

Our youthful leader, President Barack Obama, who said it best in speaking on the topic of youth participation during his visit to Ghana back in July. In speaking before the Ghanaian Parliament on July 12, 2009, President Obama emphasized the importance of young people's participation and the support for their advancement, stating that it is, among other items, critical to the continents’ advancement and way forward to end the corruption. So now, how does this matter fit into the human rights framework? Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to participate in decision-making processes that may be relevant in their lives and to influence decisions taken in their regard—within the family, the school or the community (Note: The United States, along with Somalia, remain the only two nations, a party to the UN, who have not ratified this celebrated document). Our young people must be prepared to go out into the world and we must support them in their efforts.

The movement is forward, i.e., a push for the genuine participation of our youngest citizens in the decisions that also affect their lives both right now and into the future! Heal the World as our late brother, humanitarian, musical prophet: Michael Jackson, sang, make it a better place for you and for me! Let us make a better society for our children and by extension a better world for our children!

In conclusion, as a firm believer in Acting upon proffered ideas: Let us call on the members of the Board of Election, Board of Education, the Department of Education, our Governor, our Senators & the members of our Judicial Branch and fellow Virgin Islanders to each reassess their involvement by promoting youth participation.

Let us remain spirited, Let us work together as ONE to devise a plan to address youth participation, let us demonstrate that we BELIEVE in our young people by taking on this CHALLENGE, A CHALLENGE CRITICAL TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS SOCIETY!

THANK YOU!