The number of staff members at the Ministry of Youth and Sports are not enough to cater for the youth population in Fiji, says Philip Hereniko, principal officer in research and development for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“For us as a ministry, we are small and to cater for one-third of Fiji’s population, which are young people, is a very difficult task for us. We have about 100 or less staff at the ministry and the population of the youth is almost 300,000, slightly more than that. A hundred staff to 300,000 young people, that is a big ratio,” he said.

He said this is the reason for the ministry’s decision to draft an implementation and monitoring mechanism for the National Youth Policy 2016.

He also said the mechanisms would monitor and ensure the polices were effectively implemented.

The national youth policy multi-sector co-ordination committee was held yesterday to discuss the National Youth Policy 2016, presented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“Although we have developed the implementing mechanisms, we still find challenges in terms of resources and that is the whole reason why we want an integrated approach to the implementation of the policy so we can share resources and ensure we don’t duplicate our efforts but to reach as many young people as possible,” he said.

There were nine thematic areas addressed in the policy that the Ministry of Youth and Sports will focus on.

“We currently have UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP who are currently partnering with us in regards to the implementation of the policy and also the ministry’s youth programme as a whole,” he said.

The National Policy Report 2016 was discussed during the national youth policy multi-sector co-ordination committee meeting yesterday at the ministry or civil service training centre in Suva.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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