Jensen, UNICEF Communication Specialist, spoke with oceaniafootball.com to outline his organisations perspective on the forthcoming conference in Noumea, New Caledonia, 2-7 December, 2013.

“UNICEF Pacific have provided a great opportunity for young people participating in this conference to develop a proposal as to what sports for development in the Pacific should look like.

“Our participation in the conference is really important for us to connect with the young people in the region who will be engaging in sports for development,” Jensen says.

Oceania Football Confederation, along with the Government of New Caledonia and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community are facilitating PYASC, but UNICEF’s values are closely aligned with the conference’s aims.

“UNICEF has a multi country programme covering 14 countries in the pacific. Our primary programmes centre around education, health, water sanitation, protection of children and HIV/AIDS awareness and youth participation and especially in the context of climate change and the promotion of gender equality.

“Our link to the conference is that any activity involving sports is also contributing to the healthy body and minds of youth in the pacific. Sport is generally where a lot of exchange of ideas occurs and its a good interface with our programmes,” he says.

With sport often viewed as a mere time-filler by some, Jensen is quick to point out the holistic development opportunities sports provides youth in the Pacific where employment or access to higher education is not always easy.

“I think that sports is an essential element of the well being of children and youth and its our experience that when they are engaged in sports they are engaged in talking about values and issues they face, it leads to collaboration and a lot of positive energy to address social obstacles. Sports development and sport in general is a very useful tool to engage with,” Jensen says.

One social obstacle fast looming on the radar of all Oceania peoples is that of climate change and Jensen says its only a matter of time before the youth of today face the impact of the phenomenon.

“Climate change is affecting not only the low lying atoll nations, but all the countries in the Pacific.

“It leads to more frequent droughts, undermines fresh water resources, leads to encroachment on habitable land, so climate change affects the youth and children of today and is something that is expected to affect everyone in the region as climate change impacts and becomes more and more visible,” he says.

Which brings Jensen neatly back to the importance of gatherings such as the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference in December.

“I think that these types of conferences allows young people to come together and exchange ideas and learn from each other. Oceania is a region where not a lot of young people are connected. There is not much internet penetration here, so engagement does not happen the same way as for example in Europe or Australia where it is easier to communicate.

“Conferences like PYASC are a very important platform to facilitate youth engagement and it make the issues they face visible and tangible. They can exchange ideas because ordinarily they cannot address these issues isolated nation by nation” he says.

UNICEF Pacific’s work in the region and Jensen offered kind words of support for a successful PYASC.

“We are very very happy to be having the opportunity to engage with young people through this conference.

“We wish that the PYASC is successful as is hoped and we look forward to working with young people and sports for development partners to harness the potential of it as a tool to generate results for young people in the Pacific,” he says.

Ends