Country: Niue Island Council Name: Niue Youth Council Contact Person: Inangaro Vakaafi Position: President Contact Telephone: Day: 4019 Home: 3319 Contact Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Contact Post: P.O Box 173, Alofi, Niue Island _ Brief background/history of your National Youth Council The Niue National Youth Council is an Incorporated Society established in 1982 to unify the various youth groups on the island. At present its members consist of the 14 village youth groups as well as 5 youth groups from the different denominations present on the island. The Council represents and acts on behalf of youth and interests concerning youth development at a national, regional and international level. Vision, mission, aims and objectives of your NYC Vision: A thriving young generation committed to unity and prosperity. Mission: To develop a generation of dedicated young people who in partnership with communities; taking on positive actions towards youth development in Niue. Aims: Nurture a dynamic youth population contributing positively to national unity and development. Objectives: The Council have 8 policy objectives Education, training and career development. Cultural heritage and spiritual well being. Youth employment and economic development Health and wellbeing. Environment and climate change. Media and ICT. Social development and family values Sports and recreation.
Guiding principles
Does your NYC have a constitution? Yes
OffiOfficece Bearers are elected every three years. The current management committee consist of the following office bearers who were elected in May 2008 Inangaro Vakaafi President Sinahemana Hekau Vice President Carthy Lavini Secretary Norma Palana Treasurer Lavea Puheke Committee Juvena Siataga Committee Natasha Tohovaka Committee What are current programmes? The programmes that we offer are interlinked with the 8 project objectives outlined in our Niue National Youth Policy. We as a Council also hope to deliver programmes which are relevant and rather than duplicating what is already present we look to strengthen links and networks with other associations with similar goals on the island to cooperate and run programmes. We have been successful with the Public Health Promotions Unit of the Health Department in promoting "Healthy Lifestyles" by addressing health issues related to youth, etc. We have the support of the Niue Police Department in coordinating and holding youth camps on a quarterly basis. We also have a number of sub regional projects funded by UNDP being implemented with our co agency of Community Affairs. QuQuarterly youth camps each with a different theme or topic which are a means of building capacity of youth to grasp the importance of the role they play within society and also promote youth empowerment develop skills vital to their role as leaders. We also envisage increasing youth participation in the various national celebrations such as Constitution. The idea is to get youth as actively involved as possible putting their energy into positive actions which will not only be beneficial for their own personal development but also have some impact on their communities, jobs and national developments. ______________________________________________ What are your challenges? Lack of institutional and human resources Depopulation(increasing number of youth migrating) Lack of capacity to develop proposals seeking funding Lack of funds or funding avenues for implementation of activities Novelty of volunteerism run dry due to discontent Overly committed (due to the sheer lack in numbers youth are expected to be multitaskers and take on various responsibilities from their workplaces, home, community, NGO groups, youth groups, church, etc)
What are your plans for 2009? Our plans for 2009 are to deliver activities which are based on the needs and requests of the youth shown within the review of the youth policy in 2008. We hope to get some headway on implementing activities laid out within that policy and to be more proactive in seeking funding from donor agencies to assist us in providing services needed and not relying solely on government. In terms of activities we plan to be realistic in what we can actually achieve with the resources we have and would like to get more young people actively involved within the Council as well as activities carried out by the Council. Taking onboard the broad theme "TAKE THE LEAD" to develop an environment where young people can take onboard this trail of thought and apply it to their lives. |