Bridgetown, Barbados, 18th October 2022 (PAHO/WHO) – From October 20th – 22nd 2022, The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), in collaboration with several key regional partners, will host the 2nd Caribbean Congress for Youth and Adolescent Health (CCYAH) in Kingston, Jamaica.
Panellists for this event include a variety of youth and development leaders and activists from the University of the West Indies, the CARICOM Secretariat, regional family planning associations, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and UNICEF. The Congress will adopt a holistic, multisectoral approach towards youth health and wellbeing, in accordance with the recently developed Adolescent Wellbeing Framework.
Developed by PAHO’s global partners, the framework features five main interconnected domains which contribute to the holistic support for adolescents and youth, to thrive in healthy social relationships and realise their full potential.
CCYAH 2022 will feature skill-building workshops, roundtable discussions and engaging interactive sessions around five major tracks: COVID-19 and young people; Sexual-reproductive health and rights, HIV and STI; Nutrition, physical activity, sport and youth development; Mental health, substance abuse, violence and injuries and Climate change and the environment. It promises to be an enlightening, engaging, thought provoking and impactful experience for all participants.
The Congress was initially developed to address regional disparities in the health of adolescents, associated with financial, societal and health-systems barriers faced by youth. These shortcomings hinder youth access to quality health services, as well as their ability to develop sustainable healthful behaviours. Pertinent to youth and health discourse, is also the marginalisation of migrant and socially displaced youth and adolescents, as well as young people living with HIV, disabilities and those who identify along the LGBTQI+ spectrum.
CCYAH 2022 comes on the heels of its successful inaugural event in October 2019 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It drew approximately 200 attendees including youth, policymakers, program managers, health care professionals, civil society and youth advocates from across the region. The upcoming Congress will advance the discussion generated from the 2019 event, and review progress made in the implementation of the Caribbean Road Map for the Health and Wellbeing of Adolescents and Youth. Other objectives include expanding knowledge on issues related to the health and wellbeing of the Region’s adolescents and youth, and building consensus on opportunities, priority actions and strategies to advance this agenda.
