Youths to attend Noumea soccer fest

 PAPUA New Guinea will be sending 30 youths from sporting codes, church groups and non-government organisations around the country to take part in a youth and sports conference to be held in Noumea, New Caledonia, from December 2-7.

The conference will be based on four main themes – youth affairs, education, good governance and social inclusion in the community. 

PNG head of delegation to the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference, Sere Kala said preparation was good but slow as most of the youths lived out of Port Moresby. 

“Many youths have been given application forms to register to prepare themselves before their travel,” he said.

Before the delegates leave they will be going through orientation programmes and talk about what they will put into practice in their communities on their return.

Kala said the youths would be involved in discussions to build their confidence in decision-making. 

On their return to their communities they would be expected to engage in certain community projects on the issues they needed to address using sports as a platform to spread ideas.

He said sports were a great tool to address issues that affected young people. 

“Sports instil values of healthy living, fair play, gender equality, team work and the pursuit for excellence. 

“Sports for development are a way to improve the lives of young people in our community,” he said.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has come with a new approach to deliver the programme by organising the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference for young people to attend and interact with other Pacific youths to talk about issues affecting the Pacific Islands, especially young people.

The first Pacific Youth and Sports Conference was staged in Tahiti in 2010 with over 1,000 youths attending.