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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Thursday, January 27, 2005 - Youth representatives who were part of a
local delegation to the United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing
States (SIDS) in Mauritius, say the experience has heightened their appreciation
for the role of young persons in the decision-making process.
Representative of the Saint Lucia Sea Scouts Association Chad Fletcher, a fifth
form student of St. Mary’s College said, “One of the highlights of the
conference was the United Nations Meeting on Sustainable Development. I got a
chance of attend the opening ceremony and later, all the youth at the Youth
Forum that I went to were supposed to present a declaration to that main
meeting.”
Melissa Jn. Baptiste, a teacher of the Rock Hall Senior Primary School was also
one of three St. Lucian delegates. Miss Jn. Baptiste, who represented the
Adventist Youth said many issues impacting on young people were discussed: “In
St. Lucia, we have many issues that affect young persons, and attending the
conference made me realise how we are not unique, we face most of the same
problems as the youth in other small islands and I look forward to at least
helping and assisting the communities to eradicate some of the problems”
The St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO headed by Ms. Paule Turmel-John
organized a youth dialogue as part of the preparatory process for the Mauritius
Meeting, including the selection of delegates for the trip.
The third delegate was Larry Anderson who represented Youth Path, a UNESCO
Project.
The five-day conference on development issues took place in the Republic of
Mauritius from January 10th to 14th, 2005.
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