The Saint Lucia National Youth Council’s Youth Voter Education Campaign, presently referred to as ‘Value in D Vote’ is geared at shifting the prevailing tokenistic attitude of political establishments towards youth and governance which embraces us as essential and active agents in democratic processes.
As educational opportunities become widely available and social media increases awareness of global affairs, young Saint Lucians are becoming more critical and conscious of national development issues. The ‘Value in D Vote’ campaign seeks to tap into the patriotism of Saint Lucian youth, encouraging them to be active participants in our democracy.
Since the September 15th launch, the SLNYC has completed the following:
• Focus Group Discussions with youth at United & Strong Saint Lucia, the Boys Training Centre and the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities. The contributions to these sessions will feed into the project’s outcome statement.
• Social Media Campaign Launch involving youth influencers to conduct public education
on Voter Rights and Civic Engagement.
The Council will launch a series of Youth Dialogues and Constituency Debates to provide youth with a platform to critically assess the political landscape and discuss priorities for Youth and National Development. The SLNYC is pleased to have received the commitment from the incumbent United Workers Party, Saint Lucia Labour Party and Saint Lucia National Party to participate in these debates.
It is the hope that all independent candidates will confirm their participation prior to the launch of the series. These debates will be broadcasted live via a platform to be announced.
As a result of the revised Covid-19 protocols, all scheduled programme activities will be held virtually to minimize physical interaction. We, therefore, encourage youth to stay connected to the Council’s social media platforms (@nycsaintlucia) for campaign updates.