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Reduce risks, expand opportunities for Caribbean youth, says World Bank study
Island Resources Foundation. PARIS, September 15, 2003.- With two-thirds of the Caribbean population under 30, a new World Bank study urges coordinated action among governments, NGOs, donors, and young people themselves, to create better opportunities for youth, and discourage risky behavior that undermines their chances for satisfying lives, as well as development prospects for the region as a whole.
Specifically, the study calls for investments and reforms in education, judicial systems, health services, policing, community programs, and media campaigns, among others, to address issues facing at-risk youth.
Caribbean Youth Development: Issues and Policy Directions, was released today in Paris, where World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, Managing Director Mamphela Ramphele, and staff met with 100 youth representatives from 78 countries for a dialogue on youth development issues.
"Our
young people and our countries stand at a critical crossroads", explains Ralph
Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. "If we fail to
create opportunities for youth to succeed and protect them against social ills,
they will make decisions that put themselves, their families, and our society at
great risk, with a resultant social and economic toll that our countries can ill
afford. We must remember that these are not just the children of today - they
are the trustees of tomorrow." The report, prepared at the request of Caribbean
leaders, identifies sources of negative and positive outcomes for youth, and the
economic and social costs of risky adolescent behavior. It also outlines
damaging social and economic consequences that could result if governments fail
to address this issue, as well as the economic rewards of investing in young
people. For example, the report finds that the cost of risky adolescent behavior
in the Caribbean, in both direct expenditures and foregone productivity, is in
the billions of dollars. It also calculates that a one-percent drop in the
incidence of youth crime would raise tourist receipts by four percent in
Jamaica, and by 2.3 percent in the Bahamas. On another front, during 2000, the
financial loss caused by deaths of persons who contracted HIV/AIDS during
adolescence ranged from 0.01 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Suriname
and Antigua and Barbuda to 0.17 percent in the Bahamas. "This problem is about
so much more than building a community center or a basketball court. It is about
putting youth at the very center of the development agenda. Caribbean
Governments are serious about tackling this issue and have recognized that the
risks of excluding young people from hope and opportunity extend far beyond the
perimeter of school and family. The World Bank is very pleased to be one of the
agencies contributing to finding solutions in this important area," said
Caroline Anstey, Country Director for the Caribbean. Caribbean Youth Development,
which will be presented at the Small States Forum in Dubai on September 24,
warns that the region's future is threatened by an upward trend of risky
adolescent behavior that includes early sexual activity and pregnancy, HIV/AIDS
infection, substance abuse, crime and violence. Such behavior is exacerbated by
environmental factors such as challenging labor markets and drug trafficking
that intersects the region. While public and private programs addressing youth
development issues do exist in the Caribbean, the lack of systems to monitor and
evaluate programs complicates efforts to assess and fine-tune them for greater
impact. With many at-risk young people out of school, unattached to institutions,
and hard to identify, their problems often remain little understood and un-addressed
by any program. "The report calls for policy makers, NGOs, and other
multilateral development banks to work together to address common key youth
development issues in the Caribbean," explained co-author Wendy Cunningham,
Senior Economist in theBank's Latin America and Caribbean Vice-Presidency. Among
other policy recommendations, the report calls for: reforms to education systems
and maximizing the protective efforts of schools; upgrading public health care
systems; institutionalizing national-level mentoring systems for at-risk youth;
reforming and strengthening legal, judicial, and policing systems; using the
media and social marketing to change norms and values associated with risky
youth behaviors; making families and fathers a top public policy issue; and
strengthening community and neighborhood supports to adolescents and their
families. The World Bank is working on its own Children and Youth Strategy. Bank
President Wolfensohn recently emphasized the importance of working with youth
organizations, calling on the Bank to, "engage in a partnership for making youth
groups actors in shaping development processes."
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