A plethora of dissertations and missives have been penned over the years about the importance of the youth vote to any democracy. We will not attempt to rehash what has already been said or written, only to add that all sectors of society must be included in the political process.
In many jurisdictions, including Saint Lucia, young people make up a significant slice of the population. It stands to reason, then, that they should be a priority. Our youth mustn’t be simply told that they have a voice and that their vote matters. Words matter, but when matched with purposeful action, they can evoke hope and build trust.
Young people, recognising their innate power, should be the ones shouting from the mountaintops that their voice and vote matter. This they must know to be true, for the numbers do not lie.
The United Nations defines youth as individuals between the ages of 15 and 24. The most recent population census in Saint Lucia revealed that this cohort accounts for 23,252 people, or 13.53 per cent of the population. If we include the 25–29 age group (12,819), 30–34 (12,847), and 35–39 (13,335), we arrive at 62,253 young people, nearly 40 per cent of the population.
This is significant. It is vital that the young people of Saint Lucia recognise the strength in their numbers and assert their right to shape the country’s political direction. Everything hinges on it: their education, food security, health care, the economy, their patrimony, their legacy.
Far too often, young people are brought to the table merely for photo opportunities or to tick a box. Rarely are their ideas and insights meaningfully included in the discussions of the day or in the forums to which they’ve been invited.
On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve seen young people satisfied with being on a protocol or VIP list, or symbolic ambassadors abroad, yet lacking an enabling environment at home to make meaningful contributions.
Simply put, too many young people have relegated their power to the political order of the day, to loyalty to self, and in some cases, to “the boss man”.
For our country to thrive and prosper, this must change. Our youth must actively engage in the political process. There is no more room for apathy.
Young people must equip themselves with knowledge, information and context to make informed decisions. They should study the policies that affect them and advocate for change where necessary.
Consider this: the first attempt at a National Youth Policy in Saint Lucia came in 1987, eight years after we attained political independence from Great Britain. Yet this “white paper”, put forward by the National Youth Council, did not receive the backing of the political directorate and was shelved for another 12 years.
While a semblance of a policy emerged in 2000, there was talk of a revision in 2015, and just last year, the Youth Minister spoke of a “new National Youth Policy agenda to protect the interests of young people”.
We believe the youth voice – their influence, their power, and their contributions to the economy – is far too important to be relegated to a manifesto footnote every five years.
Commitments must be actualised, with resources and meaningful engagement, so that youth voices are not only heard but considered and acted upon.
There is no time like the present to implement a new ethos of engagement, from bottom to top. And let’s retire the old cliché that youth are our future. No, they are our now. We must meet them where they are, which may very well be among the ashes of that burnt house called tokenism.
