Youths asked to be at their best

MORE than 800 youths in the Port Moresby urban youth employment project have been urged to present a good image in next month’s under-20 women’s soccer World Cup in the capital city.
The patron of the PNG Miss Pacific Island Pageant Linda Babao-O’Neill and wife of the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told the youths yesterday: “You have the ability to showcase to other countries that will be here for the Fifa (Federation of the International Football Association) how beautiful we are.”
She said publicity of violence and certain practices had given PNG a bad reputation, but the tournament presented an opportunity to change that perception.
Reigning Miss Pacific Islands Abigail Havora had a similar message for the youths.
She told them visitors would be taking back with them stories of PNG.
She urged the youths to avoid or prevent violence which was one of the training topics (gender-bases violence) they had been going through in preparation for the tournament.
“We also stand against violence against woman and we stand for woman empowerment so young women here have come into the pageant and we stand for the same course. It’s something anyone of them will be proud of.
Deputy chairman of the PNG Miss Pacific Island Pageant Molly O’Rourke said the visit to the Rita Flynn Netball Courts yesterday was to expose the contestants to the youths
“These girls are doing it on a different platform, but they are all given the same opportunity to come out and make a difference and that’s why we came here,” she said.
The six contestants introduced themselves to the youths and asked them to vote for them by texting their names to 16110 on their bmobile–Vodafone.