The Honorable Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, will lecture on the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix campus on Friday, March 3, and will serve as the keynote speaker at a Youth Leadership Forum on Saturday, March 4, hosted by the St. Croix Chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

At 33, Skerrit is the youngest prime minister in the Caribbean. A former education minister, he was sworn in as Dominica's youngest prime minister two days after the sudden death of his predecessor, Pierre Charles, in January 2004. Dominica's governing Dominica Labour Party won general elections in May 2005.

Skerrit's lecture on Friday evening, on the topic "Challenges Facing Small Island Economies," will take place in the theater of the Melvin Evans Center on UVI's St. Croix campus at 6 o'clock and will be videoconferenced to Chase Auditorium, Room B110, on the St. Thomas campus.

St. Croix's public, private and parochial junior high and high schools have been invited to participate in Saturday's Youth Leadership Forum. In his keynote address, Skerrit will lecture on the topic, "Challenges Facing Young Island Leaders in the Caribbean." The forum, in the Evans Center Theater, will begin at 9 a.m. and is expected to conclude at noon.

Panelists for the forum include Albert Bryan, vice president of Generation Now, Jennifer Matarangas-King of Innovative Cable TV, St. Croix Senator Juan Figueroa Serville, Anthony Weekes of Columbia Equity and St. Croix physician Dr. Anne Treasure.

On Saturday at 6 p.m., Skerrit will be inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society as an honorary member at a reception at Government House on St. Croix.

For further information on Prime Minister Skerrit's visit and the Youth Leadership Forum, please contact Mashia Joseph, president of UVI's St. Croix chapter of Golden Key at 277-4094 or Claude Steele, chapter advisor, at 692-4181.

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