Caribbean News
Barbados Youth exposed to lesser known advantages of Ai at UN Data Literacy Workshop
Danae Dennie
Staff Writer
Barbados, March 25, 2025 – “We cannot make good policy without the input of young people, period.” said Kirk Humphrey Barbados’ Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs at the 2025 Data in Action: Youth Data Literacy as a Tool for Change workshop. The event was hosted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office (RCO), Barbados and Eastern Caribbean.
On March 25, 2025, at the UN House, Marine Gardens Christ Church in Barbados students and professionals from all over the island gathered to learn and share about the importance of data literacy among young people and to equip young advocates with the skills to manage and analyze population data to drive meaningful social change.
In her opening remarks De-Jane Gibbons, UNFPA liaison officer for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), spoke on the power of data to transform communities and be used for advocacy efforts. She highlighted how data can open doors to new career paths.
Minister Humphrey, in his feature address, emphasized the transformative power of data in shaping businesses and driving global change. Drawing from his experience teaching social policy and research methods, he highlighted the importance of validity and reliability in data collection, explaining that accurate data helps in decision-making.
Using their disabilities initiative, he highlighted how initial efforts were focused on individuals who were deaf, mute, or blind. However, with improved data collection, the program expanded its scope to include individuals with Down syndrome and other non-functional illnesses, ensuring broader inclusivity and support. “We had to get data to get an understanding of how much people needed the assistance.” Minister Humphrey also stressed the need for relevant and up-to-date data, highlighting its role in effective policy making. He mentioned that the last poverty study was conducted in 2016, making it outdated and insufficient for addressing current socio-economic challenges in 2025.
The event also hosted a panel discussion with Tamaisha Eytle-Harvey from Future Barbados and Dr. David Johnson founder of Let’s Unpack It, and was moderated by UNICEF youth advocate Ashley Lashley. The discussion tackled data collection and presentation, data in storytelling and AI. They also spoke on the need to engage young people in surveys and creating hubs for digital change makers.
“In the world of Chat GPT, practice your prompts, answers are only as good as your prompts and key questions,” said Eytle-Harvey, when asked to give advice to the young advocates.
When asked about good examples of organizations using data sets, Dr. Johnson praised U-report Barbados for their work with data management and analysis.
In regards to data accessibility Mrs. Eytle-Harvey spoke on having to beg and plead to get data and highlighted that it is only available to exclusive groups.
“It shouldn’t be that you can only get data because of academic and governmental pursuits.”
Dr. Johnson spoke on the ways to use data.
“You have to know your audience and when to change the strategy and know when to use qualitative and quantitative.”
“Data isn’t just for research” said Ebenezer Fiifi Abassah-Konadu, Data Management Officer at the Resident Coordinators Office in Barbados, in his speech on population data repositories and their opportunities.
He also spoke about how data can be used in advocacy with spotting inequalities, supporting evidence-based campaigns and identifying communities in need.
This workshop also included interactive sessions with experts from UNFPA, UNESCO, and IOM, with the overall aim to equip young advocates with data literacy skills to enhance decision-making and advocacy efforts.
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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