Regional Youth Development Advisor Magnum Tuipuloto outlined key areas of Youth Development to over one hundred workshop participants from around New Zealand and the Oceania region.
“Young people are affected by family/whanau, training/education, community and their peers,” Tuipuloto said.
He said youth want to experience a sense of contributing something of value to society, and have a feeling of connectedness to others in their community. The belief that youth have choices about their future is also essential to garnering a feeling of self-esteem and comfort with their own identity.
Melissa Lelo, Youth Participation Advisor for the Ministry of Youth, outlined the benefits of youth participation.
“Youth participation gives young people a voice that can be heard by decision makers before they make decisions that affect them,” Lelo said.
Active involvement, making a contribution and achieving recognition as part of that ongoing process benefited not only youth, but society as a whole, according to Lelo. She believes the results of the process speak for themselves.
“Policies and programmes are likely to be more effective and efficient if young people are part of that process – it’s an important aspect of strengthening community,” Lelo said.
Lelo’s presentation was effective and left many participants with much to ponder.
PYASC participant, Kilifi Uele, has worked with youth sports teams in Tonga for more than a decade and believes the Ministry of Youth Development presentation brought forward some thought provoking concepts that would be useful in his country.
“There is a youth council and a youth parliament in Tonga, but the two institutions are quite separate – a project to create one single voice would benefit our country,” Uele said.
Uele says the family unit can benefit from listening closely to what youth have to say.
“Youth participation is important, especially because there is a need for change in our society, particularly for parents in our culture – they need to be more aware of our youth,” Uele said.