Guyana’s youth must show independence, resilience, determination and entrepreneurial vigour
By Karen Abrams
In 2002, Guyana’s Bureau of Statistics released demographics that indicated that almost 30% of the population was under the age of 14-year-old. Today that large segment; a majority of the population is now classified between the ages of 14 – 24, officially called youth and their lives, their future and the lives of their children will be severely impacted by the decisions they make today.
Yesterday, I was privy to a discussion on a social network site among some young friends of mine living in Guyana. These were smart young people, attending University and scared to death about their future and what tomorrow holds for them. They despaired about lack of jobs, unaffordable housing, lack of security, and generally feeling unworthy because of their inability to adequately provide for their young families. Conversely, they witness the government elite building bigger homes, driving more expensive cars, giving birth to their kids overseas and easily achieving the things which remain out of the grasp of many Guyanese citizens today. During the discussion, someone living in the United States commented, “if you don’t like it, leave!” To which my learned friend responded, “What is the matter with u? That kind of attitude will get us NOWHERE! How many of us are going to run? How many of us can afford to run??? How many of us have a place to run to???? Why must WE THE PEOPLE FLEE our own country rather than to stand up and insist on change??? Powerful words from young people and a change from the prevailing, hopeless and less than courageous view that, “we have very little control over our lives, so why try”.
Today, about 23% of the Caribbean’s population are youths and the prevailing problem faced by many of these small countries seems to be one of priority. As governments juggle priorities with limited resources, they often make the mistake of migrating young people’s issues to the bottom of the list or worst ignoring them all together. The consequence of ignoring the needs of a huge and energetic segment of the population in Guyana can be seen not only in increasing numbers of school gangs, increased crime rates, spread of HIV, teenage pregnancies, but around the world as well as young people in Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Jordon and many more countries having had enough, are saying, “no more!”.
Having recognized the propensity to reduce the importance of youth development programmes in developing countries and the consequence of such decisions, the UN has issued guidance for nations to properly address the plight of young people. Implementation of youth programmes “require the full enjoyment by young people of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and also requires that Governments take effective action against violations of these rights and freedoms and promote non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, with full respect for various religious and ethical values, cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions of their young people, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security and participation of all young women and men.”
While the UN guidelines are a laudable ideal, unless a youth emergency becomes evident in Guyana, real investments in youth will continue to give way to priorities which the government deems more important. Hotels and bridges and cricket stadia have to be built. Precious financial resources will continue to be spent on maintenance of shoddy road projects and other expenditures at the expense of a studied and holistic redevelopment of education, job opportunities, sports development, and community centred youth programmes. Politics will continue to be allowed to creep into project funding at the expense of whole communities of young people. As long as youth projects are not designed to be inclusive, nationwide, interconnected and created with clear and achievable goals in mind, they will continue to be added to Guyana’s seemingly endless list of disjointed and unsuccessful youth programmes.Unfortunately, for many Guyanese youth; the hard truth is that absent a major change in government priorities, a change in the quality of life for young people in Guyana is not imminent. The solution for many will have to be driven by the youth themselves. Young people will have to aggressively pursue internet technology to access information not readily available in their community schools and libraries. They will have to pursue entrepreneurship and start and fail and start again many businesses until they are successful. Young people will have to investigate the options of starting community farms and convenience shops. Young people will have to learn trades which they can then use to start their own businesses. Young people will have to network with each other within and among communities to share strategies, resources and ideas. In other words, if you want a better life for your family, a better future for yourself you will have to refocus, reprioritize, craft a plan, limit spending and make small investments in your own future while maintain a keen understanding of the political system in Guyana. In the words of the great Albert Einstein, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity”. The youth of Guyana must decide whether the time is right for change.
MBA Marketing Executive Director, stickyladder.com
