KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Seth George Ramocan, will launch the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference and the Jamaica 55 celebrations in London, on Thursday, June 1.

The conference will be held over the period July 23 to 26 at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, under the theme ‘Partnering for Growth’. It is one of the key activities of Jamaica’s 55th Independence anniversary celebrations.Acting Director of the Diaspora Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Lincoln Downer said that a Jamaica 55 UK Steering Committee that was recently established by the Jamaican High Commission will play a key role at the launch.“They have assured me that it will be exciting and engaging. I am told that there will be a mento band to welcome participants,” he said, adding that Jamaicans living in the UK and members of various community-based organisations will be in attendance.The acting director said every effort will be made by the Commission to encourage second, third, and fourth-generation Jamaica-UK citizens to attend the conference.“They have been intrinsically involved in the Diaspora movement,” Downer said.He pointed out that the Global Young Leaders of Jamaica, a network of young leaders from across the world, will have a session on the third day of the conference.“We empowered them to develop the programme. They have selected a number of topics around youth engagement,” Downer said.He added the Young Leaders will be collaborating with other young people in Jamaica through the Youth Advisory Council of Jamaica.“One of the outcomes that our minister wanted was to have that mechanism for engagement of the youth, so this is the start of the process,” he said