Caribbean News
CDB Youth Fire brings Real Talk about Youth Employability
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
What makes Caribbean youth attractive to employers? What do they need to secure a job? Session two of the Caribbean Development Banks Youth FIRE session aimed to answer that question.
The session took on the issue of youth employability which affects nations globally and centred the voices of the people most affected by the phenomenon. Instead of taking the usual approach of mentoring successful high school students or college students, panellists assed the root problems of vulnerable communities that hindered employability and stopped many students from ever getting to the ‘high school graduate’ stage. Speakers explored ways to fix those issues to create equal footing early for the students who would make up the workforce in the next 15 years.
Tracey-Ann Ramkissoon, a banker, environmentalist, and social activist moderated the session. One of the main issues that most of the advocates faced was a lack of inclusivity and support in the education system for women, indigenous and immigrant children, and disabled people specifically. To make employable adults, they said, children must all be afforded level opportunities.
Human resources practitioner and the founder of ‘Just Believe Enterprises Katrina Reece Burley, who is disabled, lamented how the lack of inclusivity made it hard for disabled persons to get and maintain jobs. She insisted that the system must become more friendly to disabled persons.
“Change must occur at all levels of society where we recognize that everyone is different,” she said. Burley maintained that if all students were to succeed, inclusive education would be a must in the digital age.
Graduate of the EPOS Youth Entrepreneurial program, 17-year-old Obrina Wickham explained that participation in courses she found interesting had prepared her for the workplace and expressed her hope that other young people would be able to do the same.
“We need a society and economy that allows young people to explore their individuality and bring their new talents to the workplace.’ she said.
Kalinago Inclusion Advocate and Nanichi Foundation founder Amy Francis spearheads a foundation that supports young people in need in the Kalinago territory and allows them better access to learning supplies. Despite their contributions to society Kalinago children face stigma which impacts their access to resources, which in turn affects their employability.
“I believe if we give them the proper foundation, these children can move mountains.” Francis maintained.
Francis said scaling up programs that improved literacy in areas like finance and science and integrating indigenous knowledge in schools would help bridge the gap.
Assistant Financial Controller Ariella Misick explained the playing field was not always level for different students with different backgrounds and that as an immigrant to the Turks and Caicos she was well aware of this. She said immigrant children, especially those who needed to learn a new language, needed greater support. Directly to the TCI, she recommended that TVET Schools and community centres extend exit readiness programs to cater to students who need extra help.
“Inclusive societies are healthy societies and integration is important for self-actualization, for fostering innovation and contributing to a stronger economy,” she explained.
Panellist Keithlin Caroo who is the CEO of Helen’s Daughters, a grassroots organisation that focuses on representation for women in agriculture, was a UN Peacekeeper and Advisor on climate change issues for years. Caroo was uncomfortable with the underrepresentation of Caribbean countries especially in agriculture in the UN and how solutions for Agriculture seemed to come from the ‘top down’.
She worked to amplify the voices of women and Caribbean people on stages where their voices were lost. With that experience, she maintains that employability skills now are vastly different from 30 years ago.
“Before we wanted to secure an 8-5 job with a good pension and benefits, we’re in a world now where we need to create opportunities for ourselves.”
For this world, she said ‘employability’ is grit, persistence, the ability to pivot, a good understanding of underground trends, and taking advantage of niche markets. She encouraged the use of the internet to ‘upskill yourself’.
“You can get a degree but the internet is a world of things… instead of spending hours and hours on social media try to use that time to upskill yourselves in whatever niche market you have found.”
CEO of Dynamic Enterprises and ‘motor medical professional’ Malcolm Wills uses 3D printing to create prosthetics for amputees in Guyana. He stressed the skill of persistence, maintaining that nothing happens overnight. His
market is truly a niche market that he has taken charge of, and he has four ways that entrepreneurs can really improve their skills:
-Commitment to research, research is 80-90% of the work.
-Getting in alignment with training programs that complement and expand your knowledge
-Growing your network and making strong meaningful connections
-Forging strategic partnerships
CEO of Kee Farms, Nicholas Kee, maintains that we live in a digital world and that is something that youth must use to their advantage by acquiring knowledge in niche areas of interest.
In terms of closing employability gaps, Caroo maintained that gaining experience during school was paramount instead of waiting until graduation.
“Sometimes you will not make money from that…it won’t be glory immediately, it starts with sacrifice,” she said.
A regional or national skills forum is what Wills recommends for success in the region when it comes to having a well-trained youth force and beating the employability gap
Additionally, Kee stressed that a bolstering of the telecom’s infrastructure needs to be undertaken immediately because without that we will remain behind.
“If we don’t address these things, we will essentially be locked out from different opportunities that the rest of the world presents, from the global north especially, and it also prevents us from creating our own opportunities.”
One takeaway Caroo mentioned that could really propel Caribbean youth through the business world was self-belief.
“There’s so much promise in the Caribbean region and there are so many problems, but we already have such innovative solutions, so it’s a matter of picking up the mantle, believing in yourself, and investing in yourself”
Kee mentioned curiosity and passion as his main takeaway encouraging young people to stay hungry and curious. Wills on the other hand said his main takeaway was prior preparation adding that just like with the Covid-19 pandemic you never know what the future holds.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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