Youth Affairs Minister Justina Charles denies there is marginalization of Dominica’s youth by her ministry

​Youth Affairs Minister Justina Charles says there is no marginalization of Dominica’s youth by her ministry. She made this statement in response to expressed accusations of such marginalization, during a recent national consultation on a national youth policy review last week.
Minister Charles said “We have made strides in the movement of our youth across Dominica, and from the very onset, I would like to say as the minister responsible for youth, I do not think that there has been any marginalization of any youth, but we look at youth across the board. So when we speak youth, we do not speak of youth with any distinction. Once you fall within the age group and we look at all of the other aspects of what makes you a young person, you are part of the process, and you are to benefit from everything across the board.”
She continued by saying, “We will understand prior to the 1970’s, there was probably nothing tangible, nothing the youth could identify with. We were all in the communities and living our own lives and finding ourselves in social groups. As a result of interest and concerns and situations with which our young people were confronted, we saw the establishment of the National Youth Council in 1970. The NYC represents the youth body across the island. We saw the establishment of the National Youth Development Division in 1972. Why would any government institute or give support to these establishments? It is because of interest and concern for our young people.”