Caribbean News
UN Youth Advisory Group to Launch Health and Food Security Podcast Series
July 11, 2025
With Caribbean youth disproportionately facing complex challenges that threaten their health and overall well-being, the UN Youth Advisory group (YAG) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean is providing an avenue to make a positive difference.
The YAG, which comprises passionate youth leaders from across the Eastern Caribbean, will this month launch “Youth Speaks”, a monthly podcast series, designed to create an inclusive platform for Caribbean youth to engage with experts, share experiences, and drive advocacy around critical health and social issues affecting the region.
Jovanna Ifill, YAG Health and Food Security Team Leader explained: “From worsening climate crises to mental health struggles, gender-based violence, limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, chronic non-communicable diseases, and the systemic exclusion of persons with disabilities—these issues are all deeply interconnected and disproportionately affect young people.” She further noted that “recent data underscores the need for much more urgent action.”
According to UNICEF and PAHO (2024), over 80% of Caribbean youth are concerned about the health impacts of climate change, with many experiencing eco-anxiety due to hurricanes, droughts, and displacement. Mental health services remain limited, despite one in four Caribbean adults living with a mental health condition (Barbados Ministry of Health & Wellness, 2023). Meanwhile, non-communicable diseases like diabetes and obesity are rising among youth, driven by poor nutrition, low physical activity, and climate-related food insecurity (PAHO, 2023).
Against this backdrop, Ms. Ifill says the podcast series aims to foster inclusive, youth-centered conversations on pressing health issues to
create awareness; integrate intergenerational perspectives to bridge gaps between youth, policy makers and health professionals; and support access to equitable healthcare, positive behavior change and collective advocacy. Ultimately, this initiative will amplify youth voices to advance SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and related Sustainable Development Goals.
UN Resident Coordinator, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Simon Springett welcomed this initiative commending the YAG for this timely and potentially impactful initiative. “The ‘Youth Speaks’ podcast is a powerful platform that places young people at the forefront of conversations that matter—on health, climate, equity, and inclusion. It reflects the leadership, creativity, and resilience of Caribbean youth, and the United Nations is proud to support their efforts to drive meaningful change and accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 3 on Good Health and Well-being”.
The YAG is hoping to engage over 500 Caribbean youth between 15 – 30 years via the monthly podcast series to be broadcast on social media platforms. To promote inter-generational support, Ms. Ifill stressed that they are also seeking to reach persons over 30 who can relate to those issues, as well as policymakers, healthcare professionals and youth advocates. To bridge the information gap for audiences who may not traditionally be on social media, she noted that they are also hoping to attract radio sponsorship, to promote the initiative across the region, to reach their target audience in a more equitable way.
The series will be launched on Monday 14th July, 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. AST with a live Panel Discussion on Climate Change & Mental Health in the Caribbean via zoom. The launch will also feature a moderated Q&A session with regional stakeholders. Participants will include representatives of Caribbean youth networks, regional health and development partners, Government officials and agencies and community organizations.
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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