Youth Employment and Financial Resilience to Top Agenda of Commonwealth Secretary-General's Caribbean Visit

LONDON, June 9, 2011 -

- Sharma Visits Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Jamaica and St Vincent and
the Grenadines in Official Visit to the Caribbean Region

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma will lay particular stress
on youth employment, underachievement by boys and strengthening economic
resilience during his six-day trip to the Caribbean region, 12-17 June 2011.

Mr Sharma is scheduled to visit Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Jamaica,
and St Vincent and the Grenadines. He will meet Heads of Government,
ministers, Speakers and Leaders of the Opposition.

He will also meet representatives of the private sector and young people.

Speaking ahead of his departure Mr Sharma said: "Finding imaginative ways
of creating jobs and skills development for the youth is a priority for the
Commonwealth. This requires partnership between government and the private
sector and the Commonwealth can help build co-operation and collaboration.
I'm particularly struck by the positive response in Commonwealth countries to
innovative approaches by banks and financial institutions to mainstream youth
involvement in the economic life of these countries.

"Mentoring is often what helps young people make themselves more
employable or set themselves up independently in professions. Support for
youth entrepreneurship not only helps bring opportunities for self-employment
, it helps create other new jobs for young people and assets for the society.
We need to be alert to the needs both of young men and of young women and
help advance their prospects in every possible way.

"My visit is a valuable opportunity to share practical ideas gleaned from
some of the work we are already doing. I want to learn more about projects
already underway in the Caribbean and to identify the ways in which our
Commonwealth partnership can multiply the benefit. We will build on the
proposals put forward last month at the Commonwealth Caribbean Conference
'Investing in Youth Employment'."

Mr Sharma also commented on opportunities being created by the
Commonwealth to strengthen the region's resilience to natural disasters. The
Commonwealth is working with Caribbean governments in the region to help
protect livelihoods and infrastructure from vulnerability to events such as
hurricanes.

During the Caribbean visit Mr Sharma will call on Baldwin Spencer, Prime
Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of
Dominica; Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica; and Dr Ralph Gonsalves,
Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, to discuss priorities for
the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is scheduled
to take place in Perth, Australia in October 2011. He will also brief them on
progress on mandates from the last leaders' meeting in Port of Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009, such as the Network of Election Management
Bodies and the Commonwealth internet gateway, known as 'Commonwealth
Connects'.

For media enquiries please contact Yvonne Chin, Communications Officer,
Commonwealth Secretariat, +44-7912-463750 or y.chin@commonwealth.int

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