Various youth groups from the Eastern Division met today at a Stakeholders Forum organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to discuss issues and share ideas regarding development agendas in the maritime areas.
While opening the two-day forum in Suva this morning, Ministry of Youth and Sports permanent secretary Josefa Sania said the forum was an extension of the National Youth and Sports Conference, which was held last week.
Mr Sania said the meeting was an opportune time for youth leaders in the Eastern Division to discuss at length challenges relating to their localities and the stakeholders’ ability to disseminate information about the nature and roles of their respective agencies to youths.
“We saw it fit to conduct this workshop soon after the conclusion of the National Youth and Sports Conference as the difficulty in accessing you, the young people of the Eastern Division, was one of the main reasons we held this forum in close proximity with the recently concluded conference,” Mr Sania said.
Highlighting the success of last week’s 2015 National Youth and Sports Conference, Mr Sania said voices of young people were heard in the form of the ‘Laucala Youth Declaration’.
This declaration, a collective voice of youths from all four divisions, witnessed the affirmation of the commitments made under the 2014 Baku Commitment to Youth Policies and also noted the priority areas of the World Program of Action 2010 and beyond.
“It also reaffirmed the 2014 Suva Declaration on Youth; which encourages the importance of integrated approaches by all actors to strengthen and establish initiatives and strategies to implement priority areas of the National Youth Policy.
“The 400 youth participants have also noted during the NYSC 2015 with satisfaction the efforts taken by all actors in implementing the priority areas of the Suva Declaration on Youth and the National Youth Policy by acknowledging and recognizing the significant contribution of young people towards national development; the vibrant diversity of young people in Fiji and the importance of creating a conducive environment that enables positive youth development in Fiji,” Mr Sania stressed.
The permanent secretary reiterated the Ministry of Youth and Sports commitment to the development of all young people around the country.
“The Ministry has over the past year visited close to 500 youth clubs to ascertain how best the ministry’s services could be of any assistance to them and we have plans to continue with these visits until we have visited most of the registered youth clubs within the ministry.”
Mr Sania is hopeful that after the forum, challenges faced by youths in maritime provinces and how best they could access the ministry’s services, would be addressed.
“I urge all youths in the maritime islands to fully utilize the abundant resources available at your disposal. Use these resources in such a way that will ensure your future generations are also able to experience its abundance,” Mr Sania said.