Barbados is launching a new wave of youth empowerment opportunities after the government named 10 faith-based organizations as the first recipients of grants from its landmark $5 million youth development fund. The successful groups were announced on Thursday, following a competitive selection process that saw 26 proposals submitted to the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector earlier this year after the initiative was first unveiled.
The first cohort of funded organizations includes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown, Gospel Lighthouse, United Church of America Inc., Melchizedek Ministries, Kingdom First International Church Inc., Combined Faith Christian Sports Evangelism Ministry, New Testament Church of God Barbados, Methodist Church of Barbados, East Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and Kingdom Life Ministries. Spanning the entire island nation, these geographically distributed groups are set to roll out targeted programming to reach young people in communities across Barbados.
Third Sector Minister Colin Jordan has publicly encouraged Barbadian youth to take full advantage of the new opportunities created by this programme. Speaking to media after the announcement, Jordan shared his expectation for broad youth participation, saying, “We expect that wherever the programmes manifest themselves, wherever they’re conducted, wherever they’re executed, that our young people will grab hold of them to the extent that the organisations will come back to say, there is so much demand that we need more funds to build out to impact even more of our young people.”
Jordan noted that all 10 selected projects share a unifying core mission: to enhance young people’s lives and overall wellbeing, nurture their untapped talents, and support them in making positive life choices. He emphasized that the grant programme fulfills a key pledge made to youth and faith-based organizations in the ruling party’s 2026 electoral manifesto.
“Faith-based organisations are able to, through impactful proposals and the execution of those proposals, engage our young people in meaningful activity, with the understanding that we are building those young people, that we are building their families, building their communities, and allowing them to create pathways for their own personal, social, and economic development and empowerment,” Jordan explained. He added that the grants also reflect the government’s commitment to advancing national development through collaborative partnerships with non-political community organizations.
The minister outlined the government’s overarching vision for the initiative: “We want to see a country of young people who are realising their potential, their skills, their aptitudes. We want to see young people who are confident. We want to see young people who are productive. We want to see young people who are hopeful. The lack of hope produces a lot of the challenges that we see. Out of your programmes, we expect to feel and see an increase in the level of hope among our young people. So this is a moment to celebrate.”
Jordan stressed that addressing the complex challenges facing young Barbadians requires coordinated engagement across all segments of society, including families, schools, community groups, and non-governmental stakeholders. He highlighted the unique role faith-based organizations play in building a cohesive, prosperous society, noting that their core values often resonate more deeply with local communities than those of secular groups.
“It is from you that values have more resonance, and I phrase it that way because it is not necessarily that you are the only ones who share values. However, because you’re faith-based organisations, it resonates more. It is received by the public, by our population, maybe in a different way, from those who may not be of faith,” he said.
The selection of the 10 organizations was overseen by a dedicated evaluation and monitoring committee, which assessed each proposal based on its projected community impact and the submitting organization’s proven capacity to deliver results effectively. Jordan noted that six additional strong proposals were deferred during this round, but remain in consideration for approval later in 2024.
“We recognise that some organisations may have strong ideas and ideas that have the potential to make significant positive and meaningful impact, but may require some support in terms of strengthening the proposal, clarifying the goals, identifying the objectives well, and developing a plan for implementation,” he explained. In some cases, the committee identified projects with untapped potential that exceeded what was outlined in the initial application, and government teams will work with these organizations to refine their proposals moving forward.
Going forward, the evaluation and monitoring committee will conduct ongoing oversight of all funded projects to ensure they stay aligned with their agreed-upon goals and deliver the intended benefits to youth. The full $5 million in funding will be disbursed by the Ministry of Finance in line with approved project timelines.