21/08/2025
The Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC) successfully hosted the graduation ceremony for Cohort 2 of its flagship National Youth Leadership Training Course on Saturday, August 16th, 2025, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (Medical Sciences Lecture Theatre).
The ceremony brought together youth leaders, parents, mentors, sponsors, and partners to celebrate the achievements of both junior and senior participants who completed the intensive seven-week programme. The course provided training in leadership, public speaking, community development, and advocacy, equipping participants with the tools to be effective leaders in their schools, communities, and nation.
The featured address was delivered by the Director of Youth Affairs, Division of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, who commended the BYDC and participants for their dedication to strengthening youth leadership in Barbados.
This year, 93 young people between the ages of 11 and 35 applied for the course, 51 completed it, and 40 successfully passed the programme.
In his remarks, Caleb Brathwaite, AA, LL.B, President of the BYDC, congratulated the graduates, stating:
“This course will always be free as long as I remain President of the Barbados Youth Development Council… gone are the days when everyone walks about and call themselves a youth advocate, but what we are doing is teaching them to be real youth advocates—providing the tools for young people to go out in their schools, in their communities, across the length and breadth of Barbados and create positive impact, create real change… to become youth leaders.”
