NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (September 13, 2024)- Premier of Nevis the Honourable Mark Brantley and Minister of Health and Social Development in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) the Honourable Jahnel Nisbett engaged in important dialogue with representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during their visit to Nevis on Thursday, September 12.

The two-member delegation comprised Mr. Mervyn Farroe USAIDs Regional Representative for the Eastern and Southern Caribbean and Mr. Tevin Sheperd, USAID Youth Specialist.

The USAID delegation was in the Federation attending the inaugural Meeting of the Joint Council of Ministers: Health, Human and Social Development and Education in St. Kitts.

“I’m very pleased to be here on the island of Nevis. While in St. Kitts, I had a chance to meet with Prime Minister [Dr. Terrance] Drew to speak about some of our activities supporting youth in the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as opportunities for economic development that we could potentially collaborate on, so it gives me great pleasure to have my first meeting with Premier Brantley here in Nevis to discuss some of those potential areas for collaboration,” Mr. Farroe stated.

Premier Brantley said his administration looked forward to being briefed on some of USAID’s current projects in the Federation.

“We’re happy to welcome you to St. Kitts and Nevis, and especially happy that you’ve made it over to the island of Nevis. We certainly welcome the initiatives that we have seen and the cooperation that we’ve enjoyed thus far.

“We look forward to these updates and getting a sense of what programs and programming is in place and how we can partner in a more meaningful way to achieve some of the objectives that we share.”

The Premier was especially eager to discuss youth development programmes in light of the issues with violent crime in the Federation involving young persons. He entreated USAID’s assistance and collaboration with the NIA in its efforts to redirect the youth and strengthen the island’s education system.

The objective of USAID is to support partners to become self-reliant and capable of leading their own development journeys by reducing the reach of conflict, preventing the spread of pandemic disease, and counteracting the drivers of violence, instability, transnational crime, and other security threats.