Cana-Caribe 2011 Youth Leaders Peacebuilding Programme was successfully executed from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 September 2011, at the Ocean Terrace Inn, Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis. Twenty-five (25) participants from seven Commonwealth Caribbean countries participated in the programme, namely: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago. The Regional Youth Caucus Representatives of St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago, Isalean Phillips and Ato Augustine, also participated in the week’s activities.
Five members of the Carimentors team were present at Cana-Caribe 2011. Carimentor Kennedy Pemberton of St. Kitts managed logistics along with the Chairman of Carimentors, Crystal Alexander of The Bahamas, before, during and after the event. The Chairman,, as well as Carimentors Craig Dixon of Jamaica and Vanessa Boyce of Trinidad and Tobago, facilitated sessions on Conflict Resolution, Media Relations and Peacebuilding. Carimentor Kareem Payne managed the administrative aspects of the programme, as well as the preparation of the Communiqué together with participants who volunteered to be involved in the process.
Three guest speakers presented at Cana-Caribe 2011. Mr. Damian Hutchinson of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) and UWI, Mona; spoke on ‘Establishing Context: Conflict Analysis in the Caribbean’, while Dr. Chaswell Hanna of the Royal Bahamas Police Force addressed ‘Moving from Theory to Practice: Basics of Intervention/Strategic Intervention/Preparing for Action and Identifying At-risk Youth’. Mr. Luston Percival of St. Kitts and Nevis presented a case study on Operation Future, a programme catering to at-risk youth in that country.
Achievement of Objectives
It is believed that the objectives of Cana-Caribe 2011 were accomplished as follows:
Objective 1: Expose participants to some of the root causes of conflict within the region and impacts of crime and violence on the region.
This was accomplished through the following sessions during the five-day period:
a. Conflict Analysis in the Caribbean
b. Case Study on Jamaica included in Mr. Hutchinson’s presentation
c. Case Study on St. Kitts by Mr. Percival
Objective 2: Learn from youth-led and youth-impacted experiences on transforming crime and conflict situations, including through community visits, historical tours and the interaction with victims of crime and violence.
This was accomplished through the following activities:
a. Outreach on Peace and Security in Communities
b. Talk Up: Connection our Worlds – From Perpetrators to Peacebuilders
Objective 3: Explore linkages with initiatives of Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations to deal with the issue of violence affecting youth, and brainstorm youth-specific innovative ways to enhance impact of interventions for, with and by youth in all countries of the Region.
Each country represented was required to submit an Action Plan detailing a project or programme they intend to implement over the next six months. These programmes must be linked with an existing Governmental or Non-Governmental Organisation programme to ease implementation and funding.
Due to time constraints, participants were unable to submit complete Action Plans at the end of the programme, but made presentations on the overview of their intended programmes. Each country is required to submit their final Action Plan by Monday 3rd October 2011.
Objective 4: Set up a regional network of young peace-builders and community advocates who will share knowledge and resources, and work together toward a peaceful and prosperous region.
All participants of Cana-Caribe 2011 are automatically included in the network of Carimentors, sharing information, resources, and working together to reduce the instances of violent conflict in the region.
Objective 5: Share learning methodologies and tools that can be used to sustain youth-led peace-building programmes in communities and countries.
Throughout the programme, participants shared information and best practices utilised to reduce the level of conflict in their respective countries. Through the formation of this network, this sharing of methodologies is expected to continue.
Follow-up Activities
Throughout Cana-Caribe 2011, participants submitted articles on their experience and posted pictures and statuses relating to the programme on the popular social network Facebook. Over the next few weeks, more pictures and articles will be added to Facebook, as well as Cana-Caribe’s blog and website to continually market the event and the network.
