It have been portrayed that youths are the biggest hope any nation could have for the future.
This is the message relayed to stakeholders and the participants of the workshop organised in light of the 2009 International Youth Day Workshop with the theme Sustainability: “Our Challenge, Our Future” at the Holiday Inn in Suva today.
The workshop was organised by Department of Youth and Sports along with other Government agencies.
Director for Department of Youth and Sports Makereta Sauturaga who was the Chief Guest at the workshop said the 2nd Pacific Youth Festival hosted by Fiji this year has been a grant success with the attendance of youths from 15 countries in the region and facilitators from all over the world discussing and strategizing on issues that affected them.
“What an amazing time it was for us all – despite the doom and gloom that sceptics predicted, the festival went ahead with the full support of the Fiji Government,” Sauturaga said.
She said one of the significant lessons learnt from PYF is that youths are one of the biggest assets of hope and development for any nation.
“We learnt as much as they did from this event and now more than ever we are convinced that young people represent this region’s biggest hope for the future – be it the cause for conservation and sustainability or rather climate change adaptation as we discussed during the youth festival or Pacific Identities, Health, Governance and Peace.
“With the youth population at around 1.8million in the Pacific, why not?” she said.
According to Sauturaga youths genuinely present to us an opportunity to correct mistakes of the past and they are also chances for a better future.
She said at the national level, youths make up almost 35 per cent of Fiji’s population and as such they represent a large proportion of Fiji’s labour force and therefore a largely untapped potential for economic growth and poverty alleviation.
“Whilst we acknowledge the great economic potential the youths present, we have also learnt to appreciate and acknowledge their genuine desire to contribute effectively to decision-making processes and nation building,” Sauturaga said.
She said the involvement of youths therefore is a solution not to be missed.
“It is vitally important that we work with the youths to address the challenge of sustainability.”