Young people from around the Caribbean have been invited to participate at the special session of the Caribbean Community Council of Human and Social Development or COHSOD in Georgetown Guyana. In an effort to support youth participation, UNICEF facilitated their involvement during the three-day special session. To sharpen their understanding of the many issues that affect children, youth participants took notes and carefully listened during the break out sessions. Topics such as early childhood development, violence against children or the impact of climate change on children were discussed. These young people were ready to speak out and communicate their ideas and concerns about the world. They also had an opportunity to present a 15 minutes newscast on issues raised during the meeting SOUNBITE (English) Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean Regions: �I think the presentation the adolescents have made today was of high impact for all the participants, it was lively it was dynamic, addressed issues that normally many don�t want to talk about. And I think it�s very important to bring that fresh air into the conference rooms. But not just for a nominal participation, I think it�s because we want young people to influence the policies and also we want young people to influence the priorities that the governments adopt in terms of addressing challenges in the development for young people. The convention on the right of the child contains clear and explicit commitments to respect the rights of children to participate in decisions concerning their welfare, and their freedoms of expression

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