Empowering Youth Voices in Policy Formulation

By: Herleen Emily

‘Youths are our resources, not our problems,’ this was the main objective of the Ministry of Youth- Youth Review Consultation at the Tokatoka Resort on Monday 20^th November, 2017. I was fortunate to get an invitation by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to contribute in this reviewing consultation. It was one of the best reviewing consultation that I had recently attended.

The main mission of this consultation was to mend the current Ministry of Youth Policies. The four main pillars of the Ministry of Youths were discussed to the grass root people (youths). These pillars were:

·         Personal Development
·         Program Development
·         Institutional & Regulatory
·         Locality & Relational Development

Where youths like us raised our views regarding the registration of youth clubs and why non-registered youth clubs were not recognized by the Ministry of youths and sports. There were many delegates who attended this consultation from the diverse work places who also rose views regarding the programs the Ministry was initiating and if these programs worked for the grass root people.

We had the divisional youth officer with us who tried his level best to answer our questions. Another issue that I brought to light was the complex and complicated youth club registration form where many rural and also urban youth clubs are unable to register due to the form asking the youth club’s bank account number, constitution, etc.

We also talked about the core reasons of generation gap in our society. We have generation gap mainly in the Pacific where there is a culture of silence, not because we young people are afraid but because they have respect for elder people. We had senior citizens in the workshop that raised the issue why elder people were not included into youth clubs. The reason being young people will not be able to speak what they intend to speak with issues like sex, rape, sexual harassment, etc in the presence of an elderly person. I personally believe, that it is time elder people view things in the perspective of a youth to eradicate generation gap. This will also lead to a healthy relationship between the elderly and the young people.

The total number of youth clubs in Nadi registered under the Ministry of Youths and Sports are 376 however, only 40% are active with consultation asking our views on this, I again went back to the complexity of the monthly report form which discourages young people to report to the Ministry due to the fact that some young people cannot write reports and the Ministry officials do not visit these clubs after it has been registered.

We also raised our issue on rewarding youth clubs for successfully completing club projects just to boost the self esteem of youths to do much better the next time they undertake another project. The high number of criminal activities by youths was also highlighted and what are the core issues of this? How Non Communicable Diseases can be prevented amongst youths? Social issues were raised like sexual harassment, rape, child abuse, etc.

In the consultation we also had participants from the Nadi Rugby league and other sport reps to voice their issues regarding the policies of the Ministry of Youths. One thing that I have learnt is that sports are a very powerful took to discipline young people. We were given examples by these reps, for instance rugby clubs. When a youth enters rugby clubs he eventually learns to behave appropriately and also is able to showcase his talents to the world. So it is very vital that we knock the doors of these sporting clubs to involve the younger generation in some kind of sports whether it is recreational or competition.

Under the Ministry of youths Pillar 2 Program development there are many programs the Ministry were carrying out, however the question raised at the consultation was if these programs really work for the youths of Fiji. Some of the programs are:
·         Seeds of success
·         Youth employment training
·         Youth leadership training
·         Youth Camp
·         Cultural exchanges
·         Seasonal programs, etc

We all came out with the key message that these programs should be simple, understandable, workable, relatable and relevant for the youths as these programs are also introduced in rural and maritime areas. A recent survey was done last month and statistics state that there are about 90,000 people living in Nadi. So with this survey presented in the consultation an issue was raised to the Ministry of Youths whether they reach out to the young people or to only the registered youth clubs because not all the youths are part of youth organization.

I personally raised an issue at the consultation for the Ministry of youth to have a youth office or officer based in Nadi, so by early next month a youth officer will be based in Nadi at the DO’s office and five youth officers have been taken in to go to different youth clubs in a month or two to listen to their problems.  Another issue raised was if the community and family members support/encourage their youths to be part of a social organization? Well, after this consultation I was very much pleased with the responses and the views raised by youths and other community members regarding the Ministries policies.

When I personally analyze this consultation, I feel a change will soon come in the Ministry of Youth and sports department. Not only this consultation seeks views of the elder people but also the youths who were representing their different youth clubs. I feel honored to be part of this consultation as we had an opportunity to voice the issues we had with us.