Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
Denis Kingsley (left) Canadian high commissioner to Jamaica, speaks with Leo Campbell (second right), director of the Future Leaders Committee of the Jamaica Diaspora Canada Foundation (JDCF); JDCF member Mara Clarke and Phillip Mascoll (right), president of the JDCF, during a press briefing at the Canadian High Commission in the Corporate Area yesterday.

Ahead of the Third Biennial Jamaican Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Kingston, from June 16-17, The Gleaner zooms in on some of the issues expected to be raised at the forum.

North American youth who make up the future leaders of the Jamaican Diaspora Canada Foundation (JDCF) are undertaking various development programmes, in partnership with local communities, to encourage nation building in Jamaica.

Yesterday Leo Campbell, director of the future leader's committee of the JDCF, said the partnerships between community stakeholders and agencies, both in Jamaica and abroad, were key to facilitating national development.

"We want to open the space for dialogue and engage with the youth of Jamaica who can play an active role in the community and society," Campbell said during a press briefing at the Canadian High Commission in the Corporate Area.

How can we help

Campbell was speaking with the media ahead of next week's Third Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, scheduled for the Jamaica Conference Centre on Monday and Tuesday.

"We are not here to dictate but ask 'how can we help you, what do you need?'"

Among the projects already undertaken by the JDCF are the donation of computers, to assist with training, and the installation of water pumps to encourage the development of Rose Town, in the Corporate Area. The JDCF will also host Sunday Solidarity, an all-day event on Father's Day, as a means of encouraging community unity.

According to Phillip Mascoll, president of the JDCF and a Canadian representative on the Diaspora Advisory Board of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, future leadership through youth advocacy is vital for the survival of the relationship between Jamaica and its diaspora.

"The Jamaican community here and overseas is ageing and we need to 'youngify' it," Mascoll said. "So we have a lot of bright young people and, if we don't use those who are here now, what happens after them?"

During next week's conference, workshops will be conducted to facilitate discussions on approaches to Jamaica's development on a local and international level.

Contribution

Canadian High Commissioner Denis Kingsley told The Gleaner the contribution of the many 'future leaders' present, and their willingness to make a difference, was phenomenal.

"It depends on how much you believe in hope," Kingsley said. "If you don't have the youth, you don't have the hope because it just means the ones who are currently leading, once they are gone, nothing will happen."

The Jamaican diaspora is one of the oldest in Canada and the high commission estimates there are 300,000 Jamaicans living in Canada with 200,000 residing in the capital, Toronto.