Youths empowered by councils

By JASON DOM
ACROSS the country, youths will play an integral role in preparing our villages, settlements, cities and towns for peace, and economic endeavours through youth advisory councils.
Youths are the largest group to access information in this era and can easily identify the needs of people right from the ward level.
Youth councils had been defunct for the past 30 years and youth activities are never formally recognised by the national and sub-national governments with budgetary allocations.
A major gap identified by Justice Service Stability for Development (JSS4D) an AusAid programme was the lack of prioritisation for youths and support in youth development activities. The programme saw that there was limited funding allocated annually from the provincial government level down to the LLG administrations.

JSS4D was adamant in promoting safer communities in which they saw the need to have an autonomous youth representative voice that is structured and enabled youths to mobilise and have a link between the advisory bodies, provincial executive councils, district development authority and LLGs.
Thus, JSS4D consulted the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) to support the initiative of establishing youth development council networks.
Seeing the importance, the NYDA came on board for the youth council network formation to amplify and support that vital mission.
The youth councils network is committed to serving emerging leaders representing their wards and LLGs. Through the programme, it endeavors to increase the number of municipal leaders who run local councils and offer networking opportunities and leadership development for youths.
The aim of youth councils network is a commitment to serve PNG’s emerging leaders. These leaders play an integral role in preparing our wards, electorates, cities and towns to correspond with laws through local youth advisory council networks run by a growing number of municipalities.
This year, NYDA selected five provinces to establish the network and offered an exciting mix of leadership development trainings prepared by NYDA facilitators during the establishment workshops at selected provinces to train and equip youths and ensure they understand the importance of a youth council network.
The programme was designed by NYDA and seeks to accomplish the NYDA Act 2014 that calls for the establishment of youth councils in all provinces, districts and LLGs in PNG. This will bring service delivery from the bottom up approach and will pave the way for development.
The JSS4D had connected with provincial and district officers for the past five years in a few selected provinces. They established a strong network through implementation of their law and justice transition programme, directly dealing with crime prevention, juvenile justice, community justice and capacity building for local and community-based law enforcing agencies and citizens.
JSS4D works in seven provinces in the country and three provinces were selected to trial the YC establishments in 2017 at each LLG that will work closely with their councils, districts and provincial administrations to address development and raising issues and help bring services to vulnerable people.
The three provinces that kick started the pilot project include Gulf, Western and Northern (Oro).

Supporting partners include the JSS4D, provincial administrations DDAs ensuring that the LLG youth development councils are formed.
JSS4D has been supportive of the establishment of youth councils in terms of logistics for youth participants and the NYDA, accommodation, transportation to make the establishments successful.
Last week a team from NYDA in Port Moresby flew to Oro (Popondetta) to conduct the formation of LLG youth council workshop, election and launching.
Five facilitators from the NYDA were engaged to conduct a week-long workshop leading to the election, swearing-in and launching of the youth councils of three LLGs which are Afore and Popondetta Urban LLG in the Ijivitari District, and Kira LLG in the Sohe District.
The facilitators included team leader and director Programmes and Extension Services, Christopher Usuka, Principal Planner Joe Mesa, a/director Training, Lenita Aindo, Principal Advisor, David Rupa, acting Planning Officer – Corporate Work Plan, Koliap Yombone and Public Relations Officer Jason Dom.
The workshop was officially opened by Deputy Provincial Administrator Tako Gwae with remarks by Usuka from NYDA and the facilitators took over from there.

Facilitator Joe Mesa, David Rupa, Koliap Yombone, and Lenita Aindo were the key players during the workshop, they gave power point presentations, videos, energiser activities and provided hard copies of their presentations to the youths. .
Some of the key areas covered were:

• How to conduct meetings and write minutes,
• The roles and duties of a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and secretary in an establish youth council network
• How to write proposals to access funding from the district, NGO, Church organizations, donors and other stakeholders
• Punctuality, personal grooming, time management, and others.

An election was then conducted for each ward member to vote for their chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and secretary who will represent their LLGs.
The election was successful, and the swearing-in of the YC representatives was done by the provincial magistrate Leonard Mesmin in the presence of the NYDA acting Director-General, Joe Itaki, Oro Provincial Administration officials, JSS4D staff, the media and other stakeholders.
Provincial magistrate, Leonard Mesmin told the youth Council representatives to take ownership of leadership, and uphold the values stated in the Oath of Declaration during swearing-in.
Acting Director General, Joe Itaki acknowledged supporting partner JSS4D, and urged the provincial administration and two DDA in the province to support the initiative and take ownership in terms of grant support and ensuring establishment of other LLG youth development councils yet to establish in the two districts.
Itaki said the swearing-in was timely and in accordance with the current government directions of aligning work programs and service delivery mechanisms from the National departments to LLGs and Wards. Working together will share effort and resources to contribute meaningfully to put human face in what we are obligated to carry out.
The NYDA and its development partners in Oro will continue to work together to establish the remaining LLG youth development council’s in order to have the district and provincial youth development councils in place. NYDA will also carry out the youth council establishment to the rest of the provinces.

• Jason Dom is the Public Relations Officer at the National Youth Development Authority.