CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett is calling on the region to pay greater attention to the health and well-being of its young people, warning that the choices and actions they take today will help determine the future of the Caribbean.
Barnett made the appeal in her message marking the occasion, placing youth wellness at the centre of the regional integration movement's long-term concerns. She said the decisions young people make now — about their health, their education and their conduct — carry consequences that will be felt across the whole community for decades to come.
The Secretary-General's intervention reflects a growing recognition within CARICOM that the region's demographic dividend depends on how well it protects and prepares its younger generation. Across the member states, including the Commonwealth of Dominica, young people face pressures ranging from mental health challenges and substance use to limited employment prospects and the pull of migration.
Barnett's message situates youth wellness not as a narrow health matter but as a development priority. Healthy, supported young people are better placed to contribute to the economy, to civic life and to the stability of their communities, while neglect of their well-being carries costs that surface later in the form of poor health outcomes, crime and lost productivity.
For Dominica, the call resonates with work already under way in schools, churches and community groups, as well as with the youth-focused programmes run by the Government and regional bodies. The island's small population makes the stakes especially high: every young person who is lost to preventable harm represents a significant loss to the national community.
The Secretary-General's appeal also comes as Caribbean governments continue to grapple with the wider social and economic pressures affecting families. Youth wellness is closely tied to questions of education, employment and mental health support, all of which require sustained investment rather than one-off attention.
Barnett has consistently used her platform to press for people-centred regional development, and her latest message keeps the focus on the generation that will inherit the institutions and economies now being built. The challenge she sets out is straightforward: the region must treat the well-being of its young people as a shared responsibility, not an afterthought.
Her remarks are likely to feed into continuing discussions among CARICOM member states about how best to support young people, and they serve as a reminder that the success of regional integration will ultimately be measured by the lives of those who come next.
