The Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific hosted a half-day workshop on the ‘Post-2015 Development Agenda for Youth in the Pacific’ on Wednesday.

Its objective was to inspire civil society to engage youths in the development fora. The event was opened by the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar.  Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou was also present at the event.

In his welcome speech, Ambassador Andrew Jacobs of the EU Delegation for the Pacific, said: “the European Union believes in the importance of raising young people’s voices because they are the ones who will assume the ownership of the issues and priorities for the youth in the Pacific.

The objective of this workshop is therefore to inspire young people to get engaged in development and bring the youth perspective into key development areas.”

In her keynote speech, Ms Akbar said: “the Government of Fiji is determined to continue work with stakeholders to improve the lives of children and youths in Fiji.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports is currently revising and working on strategies that will empower youths to venture into micro-enterprises, create their own entrepreneurial activities and also develop their sporting abilities as sport is now a form of employment.

The Fijian Government also allocated a total of $556 million to the Ministry of Education in the 2015 national budget – the second highest allocation overall,” she said.

The workshop marked a unique opportunity for selected civil society organisations (CSOs) working on youth issues in Fiji to gather around the same table as national leaders, international organisations and the diplomatic corps to deliberate on issues affecting youths and how they link to the new global development framework, the sustainable development goals.

Four main themes formed the basis of the discussion: primary and secondary education in Fiji, youth migration in the Pacific, healthcare and social issues, and violence against women and girls in the Pacific.