CEBO initiative expected to continually benefit Guyanese youth

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

Director, Human Development at the CARICOM Secretariat Myrna Bernard brings remarks during the opening of the workshop. Sharing the moment are Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Guyana, Alfred King and Programme Manager Culture and Community Development, CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Hillary Browne. (CARICOM photo)

The Regional Creativity for Employment and Business Opportunity (CEBO) now being introduced in Guyana is expected to be an initiative that will continually benefit Guyanese youth.  

That’s the word from Director, Human Development at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Ms. Myrna Bernard on Monday during the opening of a CEBO training of trainers workshop that will train 12 facilitators from Guyana.

The workshop, which is being spearheaded by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Culture in Guyana, is being held at the CARICOM Secretariat.

It forms part of a regional project developed to engage, motivate and inspire entrepreneurial interest and action among youth 15 to 29 years old.  It emphasises creativity and teamwork and is delivered through hands-on, interactive, youth-friendly methodologies.

According to Ms. Bernard, it was not a “one-off initiative”.   She told trainees that they were part of a larger network since the programme would eventually be implemented in all CARICOM Member States.  She said the project was expected to become a “great success story of the Region”.

“CEBO workshops for youth aim to engage inspire and create entrepreneurial interest and action among young people both in and out of school and from all walks of life” she was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Caricom headquarters.

She outlined further that the CEBO workshops provided persons with “assimilated experience as participants enter into teams, develop a business plan, receive seed capital and develop business products and services.”
She said it was hoped the workshops would provide participants with a better understanding of CARICOM as a place where people could realize their dreams and aspirations and urged them to use the knowledge and skills gained to uplift other young people in their communities.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Guyana, Mr. Alfred King, said the workshops were timely and would help to address issues of unemployment and underemployment in Guyana. “I believe with CARICOM’s intervention you will be exposed to good content that will see you operating in a realistic setting” he said.  He also encouraged the participants to make the best use of the opportunity.

CEBO training workshops and pilot projects have been implemented in five Caribbean countries so far: Jamaica, Belize, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and The Bahamas.  CEBO was developed by the CARICOM Secretariat with input from Regional stakeholders and is funded by several agencies, development partners and governments including the Government of Japan, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Government of Italy through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Innovation Project. This initiative in Guyana is funded by the UNDP and will be executed by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the Government of Guyana. The CEBO training workshop will be held 11-16 November, 2013.