EVEN though it is a cliché, the saying "young people are a critical part of a nation's resources" is quite true. Jamaica's youth are indeed the future and as such, need an enabling environment that will help to shape them into the informed citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

However, even though we are blessed with talented youth, many of them face challenges in accessing existing opportunities. The National Youth Policy was designed to improve the prospects of self-actualisation for young people. The National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD) is one entity that came out of Jamaica's Youth Policy.

The NCYD was established to promote development in the sector so that young people would be able to reach their full potential and create a solid foundation for Jamaica's future. For this financial year, the NCYD has partnered with several local and international agencies, as well as NGO's, to develop sustainable programmes for the youth.

One such example is the partnership with the Jamaica Youth Business Trust, which is designed to serve hundreds of youth through loans and technical assistance. Though still in the pipeline, that partnership is a programme that will help youth in the long term by giving them a chance to become self-employed, while encouraging a culture of enterprise that can enhance Jamaica's business landscape.

Director of the NCYD, Roberta Brown-Ellis, expressed that "the Government wants to ensure that the youth are self-sufficient and become responsible citizens of tomorrow". She added that the Government will be putting more money into the trust to allow more young people to have access to business loans.

The NCYD has also partnered with the Social Development Commission to create a Youth Organisation Database which will enable the Centre to assess the progress of clubs in order to fill gaps where necessary and lend technical assistance as it is needed. This partnership will also help in the building of community-based youth organisations. In this way, youth clubs are able to make more meaningful contributions to their communities through projects and interventions.

The Rural Youth Employment Project is another programme for youth, and it was developed out of partnership between the NCYD and the Scientific Research Council. This project aims to reduce rural youth unemployment and primarily targets youth out of school by getting them involved in agriculture. RYEP will be established in St Thomas, Manchester, Hanover, and St Ann as these parishes have a high rate of poverty among 15-24 year olds. The agricultural interventions planned include projects involving agro-processing and apiculture, better known as bee keeping.

These partnerships have and will continue to strengthen youth development programmes and projects which cater to a wide cross-section of young people. Mrs Brown-Ellis said that "the programmes of the NCYD aim to unearth the potential and talent of the young people so that they can use it to the best of their abilities for personal and national growth".

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