CASTRIES, SAINT LUCIA: A young Belizean is slated to moderate at this year’s United Nations’ ECOSOC Youth Forum. Dominique Noralez, an executive member of the National Student Union of Belize will moderate the forum’s Caribbean Session. The speakers of the session include youth from Barbados, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago at the Caribbean Session. The session will be held on April 8th, 2021 from 11:20 AM (Trinidad and Tobago, Atlantic Standard Time GMT-04:00).
This year the ECOSOC Youth Forum will be held virtually and aims to identify critical challenges, solutions and opportunities for youth in a context of COVID-19. The Caribbean session, guided by the speakers, will contribute to this aim by making contributions from the region’s unique perspective. Noralez, along with the other youth leaders who will attend the forum, will elaborate a set of recommendations for UN member states. This gives the youth an opportunity to positively influence the policies that will be implemented at the UN level and in countries such as Belize. In fact, by having Ms. Noralez present in the forum, Belizean youth will be well represented in this policy making process. Ms. Noralez has worked extensively in youth development both locally and regionally. She is the former Chairperson of the National Youth Council of Belize, and has worked with organisations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat , the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), the Caribbean Regional Youth Council (CRYC), and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Through Ms. Noralez, Belizean youth have been given a chance to let the world hear their voice.
Ms. Noralez feels that this year’s forum is critical in the context of positive youth development. When asked about her views on the forum, she explains that “the ECOSOC Youth Forum is another space to enhance and advance youth’s collective call for positive youth development as an intrinsic fixture of global development. She then elaborated that she is “honoured to be a part of the ECOSOC youth movement”.
The 2021 ECOSOC Youth Forum is convened annually by the President of United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is co-organized by several UN agencies that focus on youth. It provides a global platform for a candid dialogue among United Nation Member States and young leaders from around the world on solutions to challenges affecting youth wellbeing. It also serves as a unique space for young people to share their vision and actions as well as to provide youth perspectives on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Facilitated and organized by The United Nations (UN) Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY), in collaboration with several other regionally based UN agencies, as well as the Caribbean Regional Youth Council (CRYC), and the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), the Caribbean Session of the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021 will focus on “Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic”
The Caribbean Session can be viewed via the UN WebTV or on Webex. Details to view on Webex are as follows:
ECOSOC Youth Forum – Caribbean Session
Thursday, April 8, 2021
11:20 AM (UTC-04:00) Georgetown, La Paz, Manaus, New York, Port of Spain, San Juan
Event address: https://eclac.webex.com/eclac/onstage/g.php?MTID=edb04de1a42650f1c db02d776780cd38e Event Number: 157 962 2104
Event Password: 5X6GkBRR2jf
– END