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Basseterre, St. Kitts (31^st August 2020)—The 2020-2021 Executive for the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association was elected at the 19th Annual General Meeting held at the CUNA Caribbean Conference Center at the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions Headquarters on Sunday 31^st August. The theme of the event was Leadership: Precision and Performance.

Among the highlights of the Annual General Meeting was the Induction of Honorary Members, Honorable Akilah Byron-Nisbett and Honorable Jonel Powell. They have now joined the present cohort of Honorary Members which include the Late Desmond E Ward (founding member), Hon. Dr. Geoffrey Hanley (founding member), Sir Samuel W. Tapley Seaton GMCG, CVO, QC, JP, LLD, Mr. Charles Wilkin Q.C., Mr. Jose Lloyd, Mr. Dennis Knight BA MBA, Ms. Marcella Liburd, Mr. Sam Condor and Mr. G.A. Dwyer Astaphan.

Outgoing president, Ms. Patrice Harris gave her end of year report and challenged the membership to “never take it lightly when we say our pledge on Thursday evenings, ‘I pledge myself, time, talents and spirit to promote the cause, work and interest of the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association through self-respect and team work” Harris said.  “May we never rest on our laurels and may we inspire a generation of whom will finish the great work we have begun.”

Ms. Patrice Harris was returned to the position of President and Mauriel Knight as Vice President The other members of the newly elected executive are Jeremiah Welcome (General Secretary), Kerissa Roberts (Treasurer) and Malakhi Ferguson (Public Relations Officer). The electoral process was supervised by two honorary members and one alumnus: Mr. Sam Condor, Mr. Dwyer Astaphan and Mr. DeHaan Henry.

Mr. David Lake, Country Manager for Flow, delivered the keynote address to the association on the topic Leadership: Precision and Performance. In highlighting the challenges of being a leaderhe said “Though each day is a challenge, each day gives you a brand-new opportunity to get better. You can never be perfect at the job of leadership. You can only give it all you’ve got.” Mr. Lake further encouraged the members to never give up and to not only strive to be a successful leader, but a great one.

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More About SKNYPA

SKNYPA is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-partisan youth organization launched on September 13^th, 2001 under the motto “Equality and Justice in Nation Building”. The impetus to form an association was born in 1999, after Dr. Geoffrey Hanley, an officer in the Department of Youth Affairs, had earlier that year attended a Regional Youth Parliament Sitting in the Bahamas. Upon his return, he held meetings with his ministerial heads and came up with the idea for the formulation of a local Youth Parliament that would continually debate issues of youth interest in the National Assembly Chambers and then participate in regional and international forums with more experience and skill. He collaborated with the late Desmond Ward, then Parliamentary Coordinator, who endorsed the idea and lent his expertise and experiences in Parliamentary procedures. SKNYPA can be found at our Headquarters in the Charles Wilkin Building, Church Street (next to Masses House). Our social media handles are St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association (Facebook), SKNYPA (Instagram) and SKNYPA (Twitter).