YOUTH INFORMATION CENTRES (YICs) are key resources for the youth. In many countries in the world, YICs provide a free information service to young people and those who work with them. In Jamaica the concept of the YIC has been developed as a direct policy of government over several years and has resulted in the establishment and operation of YICs under a special Youth Empowerment and Participation
Programme, dubbed, “Operation Phoenix”, approved by Cabinet in 2002. This Programme is under the directorship of the National Centre for Youth Development and is given budgetary support. The policy objective, in the main, is to empower youth through the dissemination of information, the provision of other services and outreach activities at central and easily accessible locations islandwide. However, after taking into consideration the many areas across the island which would be under-served, the policy has been expanded to include locations in remote areas and other areas which have not yet been targeted by the NCYD. The description that is given to the YICs which would fall in this category is: “Satellite YICs”. In this concept, there is a merging of ideas from the Community Access Point (CAP) Project and the present YIC operations. Thirty-one (31) Youth Empowerment Officers (YEOs) have been appointed, trained and assigned to each parish to implement the activities under Operation Phoenix. They are responsible for operations at the YICs, where they have already been established. Those YEOs who are not assigned to a YIC have been utilizing office space provided by other departments of government. They are the on-the-ground team, working in their “Development Areas”. They interact with Youth Clubs, community groups, Agencies and NGOs. The vision is that the YICs should be the first point of contact for a young person seeking information on any subject of interest or concern. The setting should be in a specifically designed premises and the atmosphere should be friendly, warm and informal. YIC User Statistics for established YICs in Portmore, St. Mary, Kingston and Portland are encouraging. The Impact Assessment Study commissioned by the NCYD/UNICEF, in their partnership in 2004, supports the view that the YIC policy initiative was a step in the right direction for youth and more specifically for the targeted 17-24 cohort.
