A Youth Policy cannot be coined by a Government of old men

Anna
Correia

A National Youth Policy was presented during the forty-third sitting of Parliament last week, and its scrutiny by the Opposition unveiled quite a few flaws.
Statistical incoherence dominated, revealing that a scant 3000 individuals were surveyed, despite that the Youth Policy Document is intended for a population of 510,000 persons ranging from 18 to 35 years of age. How many Amerindians participated in the survey was not indicated. While 52 organisations were said to have been part of a consultation process, no mention of how many indigenous interest groups was made. As a matter of fact, no mention was made of whether the policy-making process respected the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples.
Unsurprisingly, this translates the modus operandi of the coalition regime which has little regard for FPIC and the inclusive participation of Guyana’s First Peoples in the national decision-making process.
The National Youth Policy also presented gaps whereby cultural sensitivity and respect for human diversities were omitted. This includes religious groups, the LGBT community, and indigenous cultural particularities. What stood out in the document was the lack of recognition for our country’s human diversities which were drowned in a composition of vague terms and definitions, in a “one-size-fits-all” hypothesis purporting to address the needs of all young people.
It was another perfect demonstration of the coalition’s incapacity to respond to the specificities of our country’s population, and to formulate policies tailored to suit the needs of each segment, in the interest of true nation building.
The paper does not outline for instance, the measures which would be implemented to ensure that Amerindian youth are guaranteed access and securities on the national job market. It is not substantiated by sustainable mechanisms which would impact local village economies in the Hinterland while providing young people with jobs. It does not speak to the need for cultural preservation of young people, who leave the hinterland in search of employment or education elsewhere in Guyana.
As a matter of fact, it even ignores the creation of special programmes which would increase accessibility to higher education for indigenous youth, and by extent increase the country’s capital in a skilled and trained work force.
In short, the document in its myopia of what a youth policy should be lacks a holistic approach to addressing the needs of young people across social, religious, cultural and gender specificities. It is therefore in the best interest of the younger Amerindian generations, that all stakeholders to indigenous rights unanimously demand the revision of the policy document and the integration of clauses which respect the specificities of indigenous peoples, and which situate their needs in the wider national context of development.
Perhaps People’s Progressive Party Member of Parliament Nigel Dharamlall was right, when he insisted that the Government’s policy proposal was a piece of paper which treated young people as a “manifesto check-box” rather than a resource. Judging from its deficiencies, one can easily deduct that time was the only prerequisite against which the coalition worked to produce a policy paper which falters in so many regards.
The fact that the Advisor to the Government on Youth Policy is a senior citizen, and that none but one member of Government is below the age of 35, also proves that from inception, the coalition was never intent on actually respecting its promise of inclusive governance for youth. It can also explain why the paper takes on a condescending, quasi-religious tone which reflects the preference for Christian values by this Government, and which it often invokes in its parliamentary deliberations, demarcating it from the previous administration.
It is therefore expected that if the young leaders across Guyana are excluded from the national decision-making process, a relevant youth policy cannot be coined by a Government of old men.