Youth Participation at the forefront of new edition of Growing Up Safe St. Maarten Magazine
Sint Maarten – A new issue of the ‘Growing Up Safe Sint Maarten’ (GUSS) magazine has been launched online. The 5th edition puts special focus on meaningful youth participation and can be read on www.growingupsafe-sxm.com.
“Simply put, meaningful youth participation provides quality and equal opportunities for young people to be involved in decision-making on policies, strategies and programmes that affect them. Young people are an asset and should be treated as co-creators in our developmental processes.” explains Dr. Henry Charles, one of the youth participation experts featured in GUSS.
In addition to expert insights GUSS also features interviews with inspiring and active young people, brave personal stories, tips to support youth participation, and more. The magazine is geared towards informing and connecting professionals that work with children on Sint Maarten.
“The importance of meaningful youth participation on St. Maarten is gaining more recognition as Government Ministries and stakeholders are increasingly displaying a more structured approach to consulting with youth when developing policy and programs. Youth are also being made more aware of the importance of their participation and engagement in these processes, explains Soraya Agard-Lake, member of the Transitional Child Protection Working Group (TCPWG).
The TCPWG is an inter-ministerial group, with representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) and Public Health, Social Development and Labour (VSA). The magazine-series is one of the initiatives of the TCPWG with support from UNICEF the Netherlands and Augeo Foundation, and is financed by the Government of The Netherlands, through the Sint Maarten Trust Fund managed by the World Bank, as part of the Child Resilience and Protection Project (CRPP).
Read the ‘Growing Up Safe Sint Maarten’ Magazine series on www.growingupsafe-sxm.com. To follow updates on UNICEF the Netherlands’ work on Sint Maarten, follow ‘UNICEF Sint Maarten’ on Facebook or @unicefsxm on Instagram.
