After hosting a series of successful Parish-Level Youth Parliament Sittings during the months of May and June 2024, the Division of Youth of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is set to host its inaugural National Youth Elections.
At this year’s Parish Level Youth Parliament, the youth parliamentarians debated on the following topics:
- Curbing the rise of violence and violent related crimes in Grenada through the immediate reinstatement of Capital Punishment.
- The Government of Grenada to speedily move to revise the educational curriculum so that schools will focus more on technical, vocational, and soft skills training.
- The implementation of Universal Secondary Education (USE) to provide opportunities for citizens of the state of Grenada to maximise their potential, contributing to the overall growth and development of the country; and
- The Government to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to strengthen and enforce existing firearms regulations to prevent the proliferation of illegal firearms and reduce gun related violence.
Impressed by the level of discourse from the participants, the Division of Youth is ready to go forward with this new initiative.
The National Youth Elections will be a welcomed instrument that will give youth the opportunity to further understand their role in contributing to the policy direction of the country to develop a better future for youth in politics.
The top candidates selected to contest in the first-ever National Youth Elections are as follows
- St. Andrew South East: Amanda Japal-George and Kevon George
- St. Andrew South West: Zadie Barry and Kamran St. Cyr
- St. Andrew North East: Emerson Calliste and Kerri-Ann Marrast
- St. Andrew North West: Dericka Samuel and Joshua Andall
- St. Patrick East: Asha McEwen Sylvester and Shanida Shade
- St. Patrick West: Zinzee Noel and Sean Williams
- St. Mark: Akim Phillip, Twana Scott, and Kael Cyrus
- St. John: Sashanna McVean and Elon James
- St. David: Antonia Coutain and Tarique Miller
- St. George North East: Kwesi Pop and Akim Williams
- St. George North West: Jamal Mitchell and Angela Bowen
- St. George South: Symphonie Lorde and Vernique Lewis
- St. George South East: Juvanna Mark and Johnathan Mitchell
- Town of St. George: Ramiah Griffith and Melissa Julien
These youth parliamentarians will be engaged in activities like a national general election, forming campaigns to drum up support from the young people of the nation for a chance to represent them at the National Youth Parliament.
The elected Youth Parliamentarians will serve a two-year term, representing their respective constituencies and advocating on behalf of the youth in Grenada. Throughout their stint, they will engage in regular National Youth Parliament sittings, debating actual bills passed in the national parliament.In addition, they will participate in a comprehensive mentorship program, attend official engagements in their capacity as Youth Parliamentarians, and have access to the Community Support Grant Fund to initiate community and youth development projects.
Each National Youth Parliamentarian will receive a stipend to assist in their National Youth Parliamentary Debates.
Voting will be done online. Young people who are interested in voting to elect their youth constituency representative are asked to log in to the youth election website youthelections.gov.gd to register and to get familiar with the National Youth Elections process.
The Ministry wishes to inform the public that due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl, the Carriacou Youth Parliament Sitting and Elections will take place in 2025.
