But sense of identity questioned







Young people from around the Pacific gathered in Suva, Fiji, in July to discuss common issues affecting youth development throughout the region.
The 2nd Pacific Youth Festival brought together 300 young people from 13 Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs).
During the weeklong festival they discussed issues centred around four main themes: promoting healthy living; Pacific identity; climate change adaptation; and governance, peace and security.
The festival programme included a daily schedule of presentations, panel discussions, workshops and training sessions culminating in evening cultural performances by the different delegations, and other forms of artistic and sports entertainment.
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Youth Adviser Rose Maebiru says the festival is an opportunity to work with young people directly and to help build their capacity and knowledge.
“For organisations like SPC, the Pacific Youth Festival provides an important opportunity to create networks with civil society organisations working in the area of youth development in order to strengthen our collective responses and improve the programmes we offer to young people.
“As a regional organisation that works in the area of youth development, it is our responsibility to assist young people from our member countries and territories by facilitating regional gatherings that benefit them.’
She says the Suva festival was successful thanks to the young people themselves, with their engagement in the issues, their enthusiasm to learn and to explore different solutions, and the wealth of ideas they contributed to the discussions.
Networking: “For many participants one of the most important aspects of the festival was the opportunity to develop networks and partnerships with other young people from around the region,” Maebiru says.
At the end of the festival, participants drafted an official declaration highlighting the outcomes of the week-long discussions including key concerns and recommendations.
The declaration is addressed to governments, development agencies, non-governmental and civil society organisations, local communities and young people throughout the region.
The declaration acknowledges the regional and international commitments that have addressed youth development such as the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010 (PYS2010), which is a regional framework for youth development in the Pacific, and the Millennium Development Goals.
It acknowledges certain significant achievements since the first festival; however, it also highlights many of the challenges that remain.
These include certain cross-cutting issues such as young people’s lack of employment skills; the lack of opportunities for them to develop the skills, including self-esteem, that are necessary to confront the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood; and violence and discrimination, particularly against women, children, people with disabilities and sexual minorities.
In the area of health, the lack of policy as well as professional support facilities and services with regard to issues such as mental health and suicide were some of the concerns highlighted for urgent action.
In the area of Pacific identities, there were concerns, for example, about the loss of traditional values on the one hand, and on the other hand the lack of acknowledgement of the impact of more recent urban culture on young people’s sense of identity.
In the area of climate change, some of the challenges highlighted included the limited awareness regarding this major global issue and its impacts as well as an unwillingness to change non-environmentally friendly attitudes.
Some of the main issues in the area of governance, peace and security included obstacles to active and effective youth participation at national, institutional and local levels such as lack of resources, negative attitudes toward supporting youth and women’s political participation and decision-making, and political instability.
Delegates from the following islandions s natattended the festival: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna. Student delegations from French Polynesia and New Caledonia also travelled to the festival.
Selection of the next host country will take place at a Youth Ministers meeting next year in Auckland.