PHILIPSBURG/PARIS:--- The 10th UNESCO Youth Forum will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 25 to 26 October 2017.
The forum brings together expert youth from all regions of the world to discuss pertinent issues related to UNESCO fields of competence. During the youth forum, a series of recommended actions and priorities will be drafted to guide UNESCO’s youth actions for the next biennium. These will be presented at the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference.
For the 10th UNESCO Youth Forum selection process, there were four candidates who submitted an application, namely: Kamilah Gumbs, Celine Mayeko-Coklee, Rochana Richardson, Mirla Cortico-Ramirez.
The deadline for submissions was June 9, 2017. The 10th UNESCO Youth Forum was advertised via newspaper, online and Facebook pages of Government, UNESCO and Youth Department. The application was also made available online via the Government website, the UNESCO website and Facebook page.
On June 27, 2017, the first review session was held where the four (4) applications were reviewed thoroughly. During that meeting, the date for the interview session with the candidates was also set, and a rubric for evaluating the candidates was used to score some of the key areas.
The selection committee for the Youth Forum consisted of Ms. Faye Arnell and Ms. Marcellia Henry. Mrs. Connie Francis-Gumbs, who is also a member of the committee abstain from participating since her daughter was also a candidate.
During the July 4th interview session, the four candidates were interviewed, and the rubric was used once more for evaluating the face to face session. See below the rubric used to evaluate the candidates.
The cumulative points of the candidates after the review of the application form and the interview session is a follow:
1. Kamilah Gumbs: 86 points
2. Celine Mayeko-Coklee: 85 points
3. Rochana Richardson: 74 points
4. Mirla Cortico-Ramirez: 62 points
From the performance of the candidates in both settings, it is the recommendation of the committee that Kamilah Gumbs represents St. Maarten at the UNESCO Youth Forum. If there are additional funds, or if UNESCO Paris is able to sponsor a youth participant, we will then recommend that Celine Mayeko-Coklee also attends.
