(contenu disponible en anglais uniquement)
Pacific Ministers for Youth, who met for the first time in more than a decade, have issued a strong call to all Pacific nations to allocate dedicated funding and resources for youth development initiatives while ensuring youth voices remain central as decision-makers in all regional and global dialogues.
This commitment was made during the 4th Pacific Ministers for Youth Meeting (PMYM) in Nadi from 4 to 5 September, hosted by the Government of Fiji in partnership with the Pacific Youth Council (PYC) as co-chair and the Pacific Community (SPC) as Secretariat.
Under the theme “Balata Vou Tale Na Lawa – Cast the Net Anew,” the meeting gathered representatives from 21 Pacific Island countries and territories, including represented by 10 Honourable Ministers of Youth, and a Special Presidential Envoy to Youth, Women and Children, senior officials from national youth machineries, and national youth representatives, to address key challenges and opportunities for youth in the Pacific region.
Key outcomes include:
- Ministers approved the development of a new 10-year Pacific Youth Development Pathway that will be co-developed by Pacific countries and youth and coordinated by the Pacific Community (SPC) over the next 18 months. This will act as a youth development roadmap and align with the Leaders’ vision through the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific.
- Recognition of the growing complexity of youth challenges, including, the existential threat of climate change, unemployment, and mental health, with emphasis on meaningful inclusion of youth in decision-making mechanisms with specific reference to the inclusion of youth in global forums such as the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Obligation of States in Respect of Climate Change (ICJ).
- Commitment to equitable and inclusive youth development initiatives, particularly considering gender, persons with disability, and youth in all their diversities.
- Support creating a governance mechanism to oversee the implementation of the next youth framework, ensuring coordinated efforts between governments, development partners, and youth councils and inclusion of youth representatives, government representatives and sub-regional representatives at all levels throughout the process. This will also include presenting the outcomes of the Ministerial to the 54th Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting and ensuring the work aligns with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific and the ongoing Regional Architecture Review.
- The Ministers also endorsed SPC and the PYC as co-custodians of the next Pacific Youth Development Framework (PYDF). This framework will lead the charge in the future of youth development across key priority areas, including Employment, Education and Economic Pathways; Health and Wellbeing; Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction & Biodiversity; Pacific Identities & Heritage; Human Rights, Peace and Security; Integrated Connectivity, Information and Privacy; and Leadership and Governance.
- The meeting concluded with the Ministers also recognising the need for improvements to be made in formal and informal education and training to assist youth in accessing pathways to livelihood security.
The final outcomes document from this meeting was endorsed by the following countries: American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Read the full outcome statement here: https://purl.org/spc/digilib/doc/gzdvt
For more information visit: https://www.spc.int/2024/regional-youth-convenings.
The Pacific Ministers for Youth Meeting was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the PROJECT Governance programme and by the Australian Government through the Pacific Women Lead Pacific Girl Project; and through partnerships with the New Zealand Government, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Commonwealth Secretariat (COMSEC), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
