According to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), the programme has more than 60 placements in 18 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA) across Europe and Africa.

The scheme started in 2014 before bringing together interns from two different Commonwealth regions - Europe and Africa - for the first time in 2018.

Ryan Brathwaite, regional development officer for the CGF, expressed enthusiasm about the first-time regional partnership in the Caribbean.

"The Commonwealth Sport Foundation (CSF) is very excited to be launching its Commonwealth Youth Sport Leaders Programme (eqUIP) within the Caribbean region," said Brathwaite.

"We are elated to launch this pilot in collaboration with the Jamaica Commonwealth Games Association and look forward to the recruitment of a young aspiring Commonwealth leader."

The JOA is expected to work with a local university to identify CGA development objectives and projects that the intern can complete.

Based at the JOA’s headquarters in Kingston, the intern is set to take on the role of accounting officer who will provide general accounting and financial governance support to the CGA.

"[The intern] will spend the next 12 months at the JOA delivering special projects and strengthening the capacity of the CGA, while continuing to develop their skills to further enhance their personal and professional development," Brathwaite said.

"We look forward to welcoming the successful applicant who will join this global Commonwealth programme and who will no doubt add enormous value to the CGA and the wider Commonwealth Sports Movement and make a positive contribution to their community through sport."

Last year, the JOA launched its own internship programme, which focused on developing proposals for sponsorship and plans around other critical organisational elements that facilitate a corporate structure.

"The Jamaica Olympic Association will continue to find avenues to develop and create opportunities for our members to not only earn, but to also make a meaningful contribution to sport development and the improvement of the overall governance of the association," said Ryan Foster, secretary general of the JOA.

"The field of accounting was chosen as it was seen as a key strategic avenue to strengthen the overall corporate governance and financial compliance of the association and to continue our theme business unusual.

"Financial governance has been a major thrust of the JOA and recently our internal controls were tested by our external auditors KPMG and by PricewaterhouseCoopers, through the IOC (International Olympic Committee)."