Resident Coordinator's Remarks at International Youth Day Intergenerational Roundtable Discussion

• Mr Sabota Caesar, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Roshana Trim, Youth Forum Lead for the UNCTAD15 conference in barbados
• Welcome and thank to our esteemed panelists representing both Youth and decision makers in their field.
• UN Colleagues
• Ms. Keeley Holder, Chief Agriculture Officer , Barbados
• Mr. Richard Rampersaud, Agribusiness and Value Chain Specialist with IICA Trinidad
• Colleagues and other persons joining us virtually

Good Morning.

It is great to start the day by celebrating International Youth Day with outstanding youth leaders from across the Caribbean. Thrilled to partner with the UNCTAD Youth Forum to host today’s Intergenerational Roundtable Discussion.

The unprecedented upsurge in food insecurity, propelled to a large extent by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recent crises including the volcanic eruption in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, makes this year’s theme especially relevant to our Caribbean context.

In fact, a recent COVID-19 Food Security and Livelihoods Impact Survey supported by the World Food Programme, concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic is having far-reaching adverse impacts on persons’ ability to meet basic needs including food, particularly amongst the most vulnerable.

The need for transforming food systems to achieve food  security in the post-pandemic world is critical to lives and livelihoods of citizens across the globe, and it is one that we cannot afford to ignore.

As we move towards the staging of the Global UN Food Systems Summit , now is the time for science, policy and innovation to be combined into  real solutions to transform the way we produce , consume and even think about food.

I was 1 hour ago in the excellent Global Youth-led innovation festival organized by the UN SG special envoy for Youth with an audience of more than 6,000 young people from around the globe. What I told them is that in this climate emergency- where Youth are one of the most impacted group by the climate and economic crisis- we need to untap the tremendous potential of youth  to serve as change agents for climate action. But they should they be given a voice. As when they occupy the public space, they can influence decision making which is far too often being paralyzed by short term considerations. The UNCTAD Youth Forum is a great example (Work you do Rishana with your team is excellent).

So first,  Youth stepping up is critical in my opinion.

Second, Investing in youth is a pre-condition; both in finance and equip them with technical capacities.

Here at the level of the UN sub-Regional Team,  we are responding to the call for more meaningful youth engagement. We have a number of youth-led supportive initiatives ongoing and in the pipeline. We are also in the process of setting up a Youth advisory group which will serve to capture the perspectives of a core group from all of our 10 states and integrate them in our cooperation framework and work programme of UN agencies. You will hear more about the launch of this Group in coming weeks.

In the interim, we encourage  all youth wherever you are to play your  part in making a difference through innovative solutions.  

And I want I  highly commend our esteemed panel for their ongoing contributions to the sustainable development of this region. I am truly encouraged by today’s calibre of  the youth (or less young too) participating in this roundtable.

Many of you have successfully pivoted from other professional endeavours to pursue innovative social enterprises in agriculture for the common good.

Quite impressive!

I know that we are in for a dynamic, productive discussion and I thank all the audience for joining us today.

Final message is bring young people at the core of decision making. To all Youth: keep it up, step up with you passion, we need you to make a difference!

Thank you, and Happy International Youth Day!