May 2023

On April 17th-18th 2023, the Ministry of Energy & Business in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) hosted the Energy Transition and Investment Plan Stakeholder workshop.The workshop was attended by key stakeholders such as the Barbados Light and Power Company (BL&PC), Barbados Renewable Energy Association (BREA), Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), Barbados Community College & the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI) just to name a few. CYEN members in Barbados, Shannon Weekes and Ivanna Odle were nominated to be on a youth panel discussion which discussed Gender Equity and Youth Empowerment in Sustainable Development. Overall, during the workshop the call for more collaboration between the stakeholders was a unanimous one, the practice of mitigation is needed more by countries as opposed to adaptation measures, more  Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) studies should be undertaken to better understand the gaps between knowledge and behavioral change and that although great policies with recommendations are created there is always the challenge of implementation which may be as a result of behavioral change. Therefore, it was suggested that behavioral change can be addressed with good success stories. Lastly, a call for more youth to be involved in decision making and implementation processes was issued.

On Saturday 29th 2023, CYEN in Barbados participated in the Belfield Youth Council Fun Day! The event sought to unite the community through activities, games, food and entertainment. During the opening ceremony, there were calls for more community activities, opportunities for youth to tell their stories and more efforts to reach the most vulnerable and underprivileged youth. Remarks were also made by-Mr. Kobie Broomes – Vice-President of the Barbados Youth Development CouncilMr. Caleb Brathwaite – Chairman of the Belfield Youth CouncilThe Hon. Corey Layne J.P., M.P., – Minister of State in the Office of Attorney General who gave the featured addressThe Hon. Kirk Humphrey, M.P., Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs who made a special appearance and gave remarks of support. CYEN was invited to have a booth to inspire participants to engage with environmental matters and as such we promoted the SoilCare programme. The Caribbean SOILCARE project, is a joint venture by PISLM and FAO, that seeks to create a conducive enabling environment and supports countries to establish, implement, monitor and report on progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets.This entails practicing sustainable land management and restoring degraded lands in specified land areas and time period so as to maintain or increase the amount and quality of land resources, sustain ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security.

Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22nd.Here in Barbados, the CYEN chapter had a Social Media Awareness Campaign where we shared 8 posts about how people can invest in our planet. Investing in our planet can look like: planting a fruit tree in your backyard, practicing composting or simply educating yourself on environmental matters and sustainable development.