GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Dec. 21, 2014, CNS – Stefan Knights is a national of Guyana. He is currently 24 years old. He is the holder of a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Guyana and is currently a lawyer in training at Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago. Stefan is serving as the United Nations Environment Programme Youth Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean. He is very passionate about addressing challenges relating to the environment and sustainable development. As a student-at-law, Stefan looks at environmental, social and economic challenges relating to sustainable development from a legal perspective. He has written several articles on issues relating to sustainable development.
Stefan was groomed by the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) which has been promoting youth development and empowerment, and environmental advocacy in 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean for more than 20 years. Through CYEN Stefan has participated in several development processes in the region and around the world. In 2013 and 2014 he served as the Special Envoy to CYEN on Small Island Developing States.
Stefan also focuses his energy on addressing socio-economic challenges in the Caribbean. His latest charitable project is a public awareness human rights campaign which seeks to address human trafficking in the Caribbean.
1. What do you love most about the Caribbean? I love Caribbean humour and music more than anything else. I have been a fan of Caribbean comedians such Trevor Eastmond (Barbados), the late Habeeb Khan (Guyana), Oliver Samuels (Jamaica) and Tommy Joseph (Trinidad and Tobago). I have found Caribbean people, in general, to be easygoing, entertaining and humorous. These attributes of the people make me feel comfortable in the Caribbean even in times of anxiety, stress and pain. I am also a big fan of Caribbean music (reggae, soca music and dancehall music of the 1990s). Caribbean music is unique and it has brought a sense of motivation, relaxation and pride to me. I remember being asked to make a cultural presentation in Colombia before an audience of young people who hardly speak English. When I had sung “One Love by Bob Marley”, I had an audience of over 200 Spanish speakers singing along with me – it was a proud moment in my life to be from the Caribbean.
2. What brings you the greatest joy? I feel a sense of euphoria every time I help someone or make a situation better. I think that the jubilation that I have every time I have made a positive change actually encourages me to perpetuate my volunteerism.
3. What is the best advice you've been given? At the University of Guyana one of my lecturers said to me that I should not be P.O.O.R in life, that is, Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly.
4. What is on your bookshelf? I have a crowded but yet assorted bookshelf. The bookshelf is dominated by legal texts on various subjects such as criminal law, law of evidence, environmental law and international law. In second place is information about the environment and sustainable development. I also have a number of language books on Spanish, History and Politics.
5. What charity do you support? The charitable body that I support is the Caribbean Youth Environment Network that focuses its resources on empowering young people and their communities to develop programmes/actions to address socio-economic and environmental issues. The CYEN programme aims at addressing issues such as poverty alleviation and youth employment, health and HIV/AIDS, climatic changes and global warming, impact of natural disasters/hazards, improvement in potable water, conservation and waste management and other natural resource management issues.
6. What is on your bucket list? Oh my! Where to start? Some of the exciting things I wish to do include: (1) Go skydiving; (2) go bungee jumping; (3) attend at the summer Olympics and; (4) represent the West Indies Lawyers Cricket Team.
7. What is on your perennial to-do list? I would love to be able speak the following languages fluently; Arabic, French, Mandarin and Spanish. Currently, I have made little progress as I only speak English and a little Spanish.
9. Who are your Caribbean heroes? My Caribbean heroes include: Ertha Pascal Trouillot (Haiti) and the Honourable Justice Duke Pollard (Guyana). The admirable quality about Mrs. Trouillot, Haiti’s first female judge and first female President of Haiti, was her ability to overcome several stereotypes and also to lead her country to its first free, honest and democratic elections in 1990 in an era rife with corruption. I admire Justice Pollard, my former tutor at the University of Guyana and former Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, for the work that he has done to ensure the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) so that Caribbean delink from Privy Council, the final Court of Appeal in England for Commonwealth Caribbean countries. The CCJ now gives the Caribbean an opportunity to have greater access to justice, enhance over judicial sovereignty and create a Caribbean jurisprudence.
10. Who is on the guest list for your ideal dinner party? My guest would have to be the President of Palau, Tommy Remengesau Jnr, who is the 2014 Champion of the Earth. I would want to discuss with him, some of the initiatives that he is taking to protect the environment while at the same time ensuring socio-economic development. The hope is that these initiatives can be replicated in the Caribbean.
11. What quote do you live by? “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you sit there”. I always strive to be better or achieve more than what I have achieved.
12. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I was once on a Cheerleading Team at Secondary School that placed second in a national competition.
13. What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger? I wish I had learnt to cook a variety of foods when I was younger, had I known I would have been experiencing life away from home so soon, I would have paid more attention when my mother was cooking.
14. What would you want to say to the Caribbean about any one of these: Agriculture, Arts & Culture, Climate Change, HIV/AIDS, Tourism? Many countries in the region are heavily dependent on tourism for the development of their economies. The Caribbean is a very vulnerable geographical area and if some crisis arise, a natural disaster or an epidemic for example, potential tourists may worry about our capability to combat the issue and so may avoid travelling to region for fear of their health being jeopardised. In such a situation, the tourism-dependent countries would suffer a severe economic collapse. Caribbean countries have a number of resources, natural and otherwise, at their disposal which have not been utilised, or if so, minimally. They should also revitalise their agricultural industry; many of the people in our region believe that agriculture is below them. Caribbean governments need to change this mindset and encourage people to get back into this industry; at the end of the day food security is important, and if we can export food to other regions, we will once again be known as the Caribbean Food Basket. Caribbean countries are therefore advised that relying heavily on one industry is detrimental, and economic diversification is important.
