Hon. Winston Williams
Permanent Secretary Mrs Agatha Warrington
Director of Youth Ms Cleon Athill
Senior Officials of the Ministry
Members of the National Task Force on Youth Development
Our special guests CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Edwin Carrington and Mr. Ivor Carryl
Ladies and Gentlemen.

In 1996 CARICOM Consultations in Guyana on Youth Development adopted a vision for the youth of our region.

The vision for the region in part it reads:
"…….a society which values mutual respect and equal fundamental rights and which understands and believes in the ability of youth to shape and change society in progressive ways and a society free from discrimination because of age, class, religion, educational attainment, gender or other factors; a society which moulds young people to be critically self-aware and aware of the total environment."

Today, we are assembled to help make that vision a reality for our young people in Antigua and Barbuda.

My government firmly believes that our young people possess the ability to shape and change our society in progressive ways and we are committed to ensuring that we provide the avenues which will assist in molding them to be critically self-aware and aware of the total environment in which they exist.

When in January of this year I issued a call to the Ministry of Youth Affairs to commission a National Task Force on Youth Development, that call was not out of desperation, but a call for us as leaders to focus our attention on our young people.

You assembled here have answered that call to create an enabling environment where our young people can contribute meaningfully to nation building. It is not an easy task that you have agreed to fulfill. It calls for a desired change in how our nation views our young people and how our young people view themselves.

The change that you are about to create to mobilize our young people in wholesome and productive activities comes with the realization that, with the change process, comes some sacrifice. One has to forgo some level of familiarity and comfort in order for change to occur.

Among the most difficult, you will be required to inculcate elements of change in our young people's behaviour. They will be required to unlearn and remove some aspects of their lives for change, adaptability or adjustment. Our young people will be called upon to know their present strengths and limitations, as well as their untapped potentials and resources to bring about the desired changes.

In short, our young people must be given reasons to want to change in order for change to take place.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

If we follow the trend of statistics from 1990 to present, the youth of Antigua and Barbuda (persons between 15 and 24 years) make up approximately 20 percent of our population.

The creative and productive development of this large segment of our population, is therefore one of the most important factors in our overall human resource development effort.

Their ideas, their high levels of energy and commitment can make meaningful contributions to societal change, economic development and technological innovation.

We have often heard that the youth of today will determine the shape and direction of our nation tomorrow. Our youth will be our future policy makers, scholars, farmers and artistes. We must invest in multiple ways, at multiple levels, in preparing our young people for productive lives as responsible citizens.

We therefore cannot turn a blind eye to the many challenges that confront our young people. As policy makers, we must find ways to effectively involve our young people positively - whether in the home, school, community organizations or even in politics.

The National Task Force on Youth Development must devise ways of confronting the many issues that our young people face today: drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, gang violence, juvenile delinquency and anti-social behaviours.

As members of this Task Force your objectives will be numerous and in line with CARICOM's goals and objectives. You will be required to among other things develop programmes:

• to equip and enable our young people with requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes
• to ensure that an enabling environment exist that offers young men and women social and economic empowerment opportunities for individual and national development
• to reduce the number of young people who are at risk for incest, sexual and physical abuse and other categories of family dysfunction
• to reduce the level of drop-outs from schools
• to increase the levels of achievement and participation of young males in social and economic skills training programmes
• to reduce the levels of substance abuse, crime and violence among youth and
• to inculcate values associated with leadership and interpersonal interaction

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Yesterday, I spoke to a group of young people and parents associated with the Pathfinders organization of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

I congratulated them for the remarkable job they are doing with the young people in the various communities. They have recognized that it is an effort that encompasses not only the church and its members, but the community, parents and business sector.

I called upon them to join the government in implementing two programmes in the community of Grays Green.

One such programme is called IMPACT (Integrated Methods for the Prevention of Addiction in Children and Teens).

This programme will provide education support groups to teen parents to build parenting skills and teach participants how to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles for themselves and their children.

The second programme is called FOCUS (Families Organised for Coping under Stress). This programme will be designed to prevent delinquency, substance abuse, and gang activity. It will also provide advocates and directs families and youths to appropriate community and national services.

It was out of the recognition that working together we can overcome the hurdles that are before us that I issued the call.

The National Task Force on Youth Development must also join forces with parents, leaders and the church if it is to succeed.

The equipping of our youth to participate in every aspect of national development is essential in the progress, prosperity and future survival of this nation.

The success of the National Task Force on Youth Development will be so measured.

May God Bless your work, the young people of our nation and Antigua and Barbuda.

Thank you.