Government

New Youth Ambassadors to CARICOM Named for Turks & Caicos Islands

Published

2 months ago

January 20, 2023

#TurksandCaicos, January 20, 2023 – The Department of Youth Affairs is pleased to announce the 2022-2024 CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, Ms. Arielle Neely and Mr. Andy Missick. Both candidates bring years of experience as youth trailblazers in TCI.

Ms. Neely is no stranger to representing youth in Turks and Caicos and regionally. She recently attended the International AIDS Society Conference (2022) where she engaged in discourse around HIV/AIDS and its relations to Mental Health and aging.

Ms. Neely hosted a class on Youth Sexual Education for 30 high school students with the AOL Foundation. Additionally, she is also an active member of the National Youth Parliament.

These platforms display her passion and enthusiasm for public speaking and Youth Advocacy. Ms. Neely holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education Studies (Honours) from Hull University, UK.

She intends to help establish a more effective channel of communication between TCI Youth and Government representatives throughout her term as Youth Ambassador. Her main goal as a Youth Ambassador will be to provide young people with the chance to attend financial literacy workshops and acquire the skills they need to succeed in entrepreneurial endeavors. Ms. Neely will give initiatives for Youth Health great priority. By collaborating with relevant organizations and agencies, she will place emphasis on implementing Youth Mental Health and Youth Sexual Education Programs. Ms. Neely is currently employed with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government within the Employment Services Department.

Mr. Andy Missick started his journey in youth work as a member of the Rotaract Club whose motto is “service above self”. In addition, he is an active member of Youth Parliament. He currently conducts Youth Mentorship Programs at both the Clement Howell High School and Louise Garland Thomas High School where he speaks to the students on having self-esteem and self-worth, making positive decisions and handling conflict. During his tenure as Youth Ambassador, Mr. Missick goal is to establish a National Mentorship Program in high schools across the TCI in order for Youth to receive guidance and support from successful and respected members of society. He also plans to develop Youth Leadership Seminars as a Youth Ambassador, to provide young people with the tools they need to set and achieve goals, develop positive life skills, and make the transition into adulthood.

Furthermore, one of his responsibilities during his tenure will be to convince Youth Organizations in the community to hold recruitment drives in an effort to draw young people to join in order to perform wholesome community service and take part in a healthy networking environment. Mr. Missick holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the TCI Community College and is currently employed within the Department of Social Services.

Hon Rachel Taylor, Ministers with Responsivity for Youth Affairs commented, “I want to congratulate both Ms. Neely and Mr. Missick for taking on such a grandiose responsibility of being the voice of our Youth in the TCI. It is important to engage the Youth population on decisions that affect them, whilst empowering the young people to identify and respond to community needs that make them more empathic, while making them equal partners in national development and decision-making processes.”

The Youth Ambassador will work closely with the Department of Youth Affairs in achieving the National Youth Policy and focusing on Positive Youth Development Competencies which includes: building confidence, connection, character and empathy. The Department of Youth Affairs encourages our Youth to join the team of Youth Ambassadors for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Director of Youth Affairs Mrs. Jasmine Thomas in her comment on the appointment stated, “The National Youth Ambassador Program gives Youth an opportunity to engage in Positive Youth Development by empowering young people to participate and bring to the forefront Social Issues that are affecting them, as well as to provide links between Government Organizations and Youth Organizations. More importantly, Youth Ambassadors undertake peer education, raise awareness and strategically develop a plan of action for youth issues within the community. Without a doubt I know both candidates will be successful in their roles and I look forward to seeing their projects come to fruition.”

National Youth Ambassadors are a part of the Regional Network of young Caribbean Nationals mandated by Heads of Governments to advocate for and educate young people about regional priorities and social issues facing the economy. They perform a dual role, addressing youth issues at the national level within a regional strategic framework, as well as bringing national issues to the attention of the Region’s Policymakers.

The Programme is coordinated by the Department responsible for Youth Affairs at the national level; and facilitated at the regional level through multiple networking and collaborative relationships with stakeholders such as CARICOM and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Caribbean News

Millions to come from FSC

Published

5 days ago

March 17, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Revenue from the Turks and Caicos’ Financial Services Sector will more than double in the next few years, if E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister gets his way. It ‘s one of the reasons the country is investing so much capital into getting off of the EU blacklist and becoming a secure trustworthy financial destination.

“The FSC’s revenues for 2020/21 was $10.5M— the figures for 2021/22, would be about similar,” he said. He further explained that $10.5 million from the FSC represented about 2.6 percent of the country’s 408.5-million-dollar revenue. Though it increased to $14 million in the 2021/22 financial year, finance is still a small fry compared to tourism or even stamp duties but that will change, says Saunders.

“My revenue goal for the Government by the year 2029 [or] the election after the next election – is $500M. By that time, I want the financial sector (FSC) revenues to represent at least 5% ($25M). So that’s my goal for the financial sector by 2029.”

This goal, should it be met, would increase the Government’s revenue by 100 million dollars, a significant increase in spending power for local upgrades and improvements for Turks and Caicos residents and visitors.

Saunders says it’s time for the TCI to diversify its sources of revenue to make sure that what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw residents out of a job for months, will not happen again. Tourism now makes up around 80 percent of the country’s GDP. The Minister of Finance wants to push that down to 60 or even 50 percent.

Caribbean News

Debrief on Haiti Caribbean heads visit

Published

5 days ago

March 17, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Haiti, March 17, 2023 – When a CARICOM delegation visited Haiti earlier this month, conspicuously absent was the Turks and Caicos Islands despite being one of the nations most directly affected by the multi-dimensional crisis there. There is no comment, as yet from the Premier, to say why this was the case.

Still, from the expedition, CARICOM heads of Government have informed that there will be lobbying in Africa for assistance in Haiti. They say they have decided that the best course of action for the Caribbean country is to bolster the Haitian National Police and act as intermediaries with Africa and the world. The decision follows a one day visit on February 27th, and a March 5th meeting chaired by the Bahamas.

CARICOM says during the trip delegates ‘met with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to hear their views on the way forward to a Haitian-led solution’. With that in mind it has made a decision on how to proceed.

“The Heads of Government agreed to support the Haitian National Police in their efforts to address the security situation. The focus of the Community will be the provision of training for the HNP and the provision of humanitarian assistance to HNP and the wider Haitian society, taking into account the challenging humanitarian and security situation”

It’s not clear yet where and how this training will take place. Also distinctly absent from the report, no more mention of boots on the ground from other countries despite CARICOM Member States indicating they were ready and willing should it come to that.

In addition, recognizing ‘the common historical experiences and the strong African-Caribbean relationship’ CARICOM says,

“Heads of Government also agreed to seek support from African countries for Haiti. They also agreed to work with the Governments of Canada and the United States as well as the UNDP”

Magnetic Media has reached out to the Premier’s Office to get a full debrief of the February 27th visit (led by Jamaica; including The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago) to learn of Turks and Caicos’ posture following the critical sessions.

Caribbean News

Women’s Health Connectivity and health a study for TCI’S benefit

Published

5 days ago

March 17, 2023

Deandrea Hamilton

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – As the country moves toward new fiber optic connectivity, bridging the digital divide could be a game changer for healthcare and other family-friendly services in the TCI.

The power of universal digital connectivity across countries was one of the recurring themes when the United Nations in partnership with the Network of Afro Caribbean Women and the Diaspora recently explored how technology, innovation and education are being used to address women’s health issues.

The session aimed to highlight success stories and explore how those processes can be replicated to help women and girls globally including in The Turks and Caicos.

The UN explained that despite holding a 70 percent majority in healthcare jobs, women are poorly represented in leadership roles and subject to systemic gender inequalities that can make receiving healthcare challenging.

As delegates from Chile and Rwanda, who were also partners in the session, shared the upgrades to their countries’ systems that had significantly improved the level of care available to their women, digital connectivity was a deciding factor.

In Rwanda the health ministries have begun to use drones to deliver medicine, SMS messages to alert about health threats and a completely digitized health care that eliminates paper documents for pregnant women and makes records accessible to any doctor, immediately.

Rwandan delegate, Rose Rwabuhihi shared tips that countries should keep in mind when trying to implement new processes to benefit women and the wider community.

Partnership and sustainability are key factors to successful programs. She urged governments not to give up on projects or allow their partners to give up on them halfway.
Education campaigns to introduce residents to the technology: “We need to build skills and deepen the knowledge so they can use the innovations that have been put in place especially in rural areas.

Poor connectivity and technological issues have plagued the TCI for years especially in the islands outside of Providenciales. Government has substantially acknowledged this disparity in communications services and is investing in a new undersea cable to augment services in the Turks and Caicos.

The UNs perspectives can now ignite a fire for even more family friendly, digital services.

In fact,Senator Yasna Provoste Campillay, the Chilean Delegate explained how connectivity and videoconferencing had been used to reach the county’s women in the most rural of areas. Chile is a long country, its landmass spread lengthwise creating unique communication challenges. While healthcare in Chile is separated by length the Turks and Caicos islands are disconnected by the ocean and solutions that prove useful for the South American country could well be worth implementing locally.