The opening of the first MSG-SPC Emerging Youth Leaders of Melanesia Programme will take place today at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) headquarters in Port Vila.
The joint MSG and SPC Youth@Work Emerging Leaders Programme is designed to develop strong youth leaders and equip them to lead development in the Melanesian sub-region.
Over a span of two years, 20 youth leaders from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu will attend six week-long workshops, which include practical on-site visits to workplaces and agencies.
During the leadership training, they will learn about their own leadership potential as well as the successful Solomon Islands Youth@Work program model which can be adapted and implemented in their own countries in the future.
Twenty percent of the Pacific's 11 million people are 15 to 24 years old, of which approximately half are currently unemployed. Therefore youth unemployment remains a critical issue for the region to address including within the larger Melanesian countries.
Today’s opening will be witnessed by President Baldwin Lonsdale as Guest of Honor and Members of Parliament, chairman of the Malvatumauri national Council of Chiefs, Chief Senimao Tirsupe, MSG and SPC representatives, youth representatives from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu