The Brightest Minds of our Generation Meet at the 16th Annual Regional Youth Parliament

The 16th Regional Youth Parliament took place on 28th July 2023 at the Shore Club Resort. The motion being debated: “to urge regional leaders to engage the voices of youth to build resilience in the face of global challenges.”

They simulated a House of Assembly meeting based on the Turks and Caicos Islands procession and titles, only difference was dividing the government MPs to Opposition MPs equally (8-8), instead of reflecting the current super majority (14-1). In attendance were youth parliamentarians representing The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, and Jamaica.

After a traditional entrance lead by the Speaker of the Mock Parliament, Captain Dixie Smith, the youth parliamentarians took their seats and immediately went into passionate debates. As the debate rolled on and each parliamentarian got their time to speak and rebuttal it was evident why these young adults were chosen to represent their countries at this caucus.

From representatives with a calm and collected tone that kept their arguments concise and filled with statistical observations, to the eccentric and passionate representatives that kept the small audience hooked on every word.

The procession began with a notable statistic that highlights the underrepresentation of youth in the government, “Young people under thirty make up 49 percent of the population but only makes up 2.6% of Parliamentarians."

The leading argument by those in support of the motion focused on the way that young people can be integrated into the dialogue and policy making of their respective governments based on their lived experience and abilities.

In that vein, acting as the Government’s appointed member, Patrice Nisbett II from St Kitts and Nevis spoke about the way most initiatives and policies made in the Regional Youth Parliament are seen as informal.

Creating a troubling dynamic where, as Nisbett said: “We may have a voice, but we are not being listened to,”

Those acting as Governor’s Appointed Members, while agreeing with the government that the motion is necessary to see progress, warned that there should be regulations set when giving young people the platform to represent their communities.

The opposition, headed by Alexander Harris, was staunch and abrasive in their approach. Quickly bringing into question the framing of the motion and why the acting government was not focusing on solving youth issues but instead painting the youth as “victims who simply cannot succeed without intervention”.

The young parliamentarian hailing from the Cayman Islands said: “This generalization and insulting stigma of our very own young people ignores the resilience and leadership that many demonstrate daily in our community,”

The opposition benefited from having many strong voices and another riveting speech came from Ariel Pinder, serving as acting representative for the Wheeland and Blue Hills constituency.

Unlike her leader of opposition, the Bahamian Youth Parliamentarian, focused on the practicality of the motion when considering increasing youth representation. Questioning how imposing age quotas could impact the established meritocracy and may hinder the decision-making process by saturating it with inexperienced young representatives.

After over two hours of speeches the session ended in a division with the end result being nine I’s and seven no’s ensuring the passage of the motion. The day ended with photo-ops and a lunch for the parliamentarians to unwind and network with local MP’s including the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Edwin Astwood who had watched the session unfold from the small crowd.

Hon Akierra Missick MP Leeward and Long Bay, a parliamentarian with over a decade of experience, acts as a mentor for local youth parliamentarians.

When asked about her thoughts regarding the 16th Regional Youth Parliament, she said: “The younger citizens of this country are not asking for permission to have a seat at the table anymore but they are building their own table with their ideas of how to enhance the country that they live in,”

Impressed with arguments presented by both sides of the isle, Hon Missick mentioned that the ‘politics of old’ had met the ‘politics of today’ and illustrated the young parliamentarians’ demand for respect in their inclusion in the political arena.

The 16th Regional Youth Parliament was held as a part of the 45th Annual Conference of Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. It has been 30 years since the last Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was held in the Turks and Caicos Islands.