The Eastern Caribbean Youth Parliament Network is on track to achieve full regional representation by 2025, according to the body’s sitting youth prime minister Ezekiel Francois, who made the announcement during Tuesday’s regional assembly hosted in Antigua and Barbuda on October 20.
Francois told delegates gathered at the assembly that the network’s next major milestone will be welcoming every sovereign Eastern Caribbean nation into its ranks within the next 12 months. This expansion follows on the heels of Montserrat’s imminent formal accession, with the island territory set to sign its membership agreement at the close of the current sitting, as confirmed by the assembly’s Speaker.
In his address to delegates, Francois highlighted that the network has already grown far beyond its original roots. What began as a bilateral cooperation initiative between the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association and the National Youth Parliament Association of Antigua and Barbuda has now expanded to include youth parliamentary organizations from Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, and soon Montserrat.
The youth prime minister pointed to Grenada and St. Lucia as two of the next nations expected to join the network, noting that full regional participation is the core ambition of the collaborative body. While Francois reaffirmed the network’s goal of welcoming all Eastern Caribbean countries within a year, he stopped short of announcing formal, confirmed membership commitments from Grenada, St. Lucia or any other pending prospective member.
Francois also took time during his address to recognize the critical support the regional gathering received from institutional sponsors. Key backers included the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda, the Barbuda Council, the island nation’s Citizenship by Investment Programme, and the local Halo Foundation, whose contributions made the in-person regional assembly possible.
Assembly Speaker framed Montserrat’s upcoming accession as more than just a membership expansion. He called it a meaningful milestone in broader regional efforts to deepen integration across the Eastern Caribbean, strengthen youth-focused parliamentary representation, and build stronger cooperative ties between emerging young leaders across the Caribbean.
Delegates from Montserrat echoed that sentiment, describing their territory’s upcoming membership as an important step forward for both the network and their own youth community. They thanked Francois for his ongoing communication and guidance throughout the pre-accession preparation process.
Anguilla’s representative to the network also offered a warm welcome to Montserrat, praising the quick transition that moved membership discussions from preliminary talks to formal participation in less time than many expected. The representative emphasized that tangible progress on regional integration requires proactive action rather than just discussion, a standard that the network’s expansion has already lived up to.