Foreign minister Kerrie Symmonds has called for a bold reimagining of the nation’s diplomatic strategy, urging greater involvement of young people in shaping the country’s international image through creativity, technology, and innovative exchange programmes.
The senior minister questioned how effectively the country is leveraging its youth to advance its global positioning.
“How are we using the youth? How are we engaging the youth? Putting them out there, sending them out there to help shape the image of what we want persons in the world to see? That’s what the representational part of it is,” he said, while responding to a question posed during the Appropriation Bill debate on Friday.
He emphasised the need for Barbados to tap into the technological and creative skills of younger generations, particularly university students and young creatives, to promote the country’s interests on the international stage.
But Symmonds acknowledged that current efforts to involve young people in diplomatic initiatives remain limited.
“The answer, if I go straight to the root of it, is we are using them in a very limited way. There’s tremendous room for opportunity,” he admitted.
The minister pointed to his own experience in an Alliance Française student exchange programme between Barbados and Martinique, which he described as transformative. He argued that similar initiatives could be expanded beyond cultural and linguistic exposure to encompass business, governance, and technological development.
He also highlighted existing programmes such as China’s youth exchange initiatives, where young Barbadians have been exposed to technological advancements in the Asian powerhouse.
“There is a delegation of young people who are called from government departments and other areas in Barbados to experience a three- or four-week exposure in different parts of China, invariably linked to technological developments and opportunities,” Symmonds said. “Those who have done it have come back, not an English expression, forgive me Mr Chairman, but they have come back wowed by what they have experienced in China.”
To further integrate young people into foreign affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working alongside the University of the West Indies (UWI) to establish a framework that will allow students to intern at the country’s diplomatic missions overseas.
“Not only do we want students to spend time with us here at the ministry, but I also want them to be able to spend a period of time in our missions overseas,” Symmonds noted. “Part of the exposure to what the missions do is understanding that aspect of our international relationship development.”
He also called for CARICOM to create more opportunities for young people to engage in governance, allowing senior school students and university attendees to observe deliberations within two of the bloc’s key minsterial bodies, the Council on Human and Social Development (COHSOD) and the Council on Trade and Economic Development (COTED).
Meanwhile, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Donna Forde, outlined ongoing initiatives aimed at exposing young people to diplomacy. She cited the Diplomat for the Day programme, which is co-sponsored by the Ministry alongside the British High Commission and the Canadian High Commission in Barbados.
“We are working with schools, exposing students to the rudiments of diplomacy and the practice of foreign policy. They are engaged in a competition, and at the end, a Diplomat for the Day will be chosen and will serve in a representative capacity with the Foreign Ministry and the High Commissions of Canada and the United Kingdom,” Forde stated.
She underscored the significance of such programmes in attracting young Barbadians to the Foreign Service while also fostering a broader understanding of representational duties in international affairs.
“As you pointed out, there are a number of areas for potential involvement of the youth, and certainly we need to explore and develop more programmes like that as active parts of our own foreign policy development and practice,” she added.
(SZB)
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