home || projects || pacific youth resources || pacific youth policy & advocacy || press || contact

Our Goals:

• To facilitate the follow up procedures from the Pacific Youth MDGs Summit (PYMDGS) and support delegates and their communities in implementing the Pacific Youth MDGs Declaration, Youth Statement on the Pacific Plan and National Youth MDGs Action Plans.

• To help young Pacific youth to help themselves and their communities in a sustainable manner that evokes positive development and change

• To provide resources and information on leadership, project management, advocacy, networking, awareness raising, partnership and funding support for youth working on community projects in the Pacific.

• To be an intermediary that links Pacific youth with NGOs, Governments, businesses, the United Nations and other regional youth organisations

• To assist NGOs, Governments, businesses, the United Nations and other multilateral organisations on their youth policies and work through YSFP's grass roots experience

• To strengthen regional cooperation and cultural understanding through building the capacity of Pacific youth.

Youth at the Pacific Youth MDG Summit initiated by YSFP in 2005, Samoa.

Pacifikayouth (formerly known as Youth for a Sustainable Future Pacifika or YSFP) is completely run by young people from the South Pacific Islands & Australia for young people. We are the largest youth network in the region with members spanning over 15 countries.

YSFP is run by a small team of volunteers with directors based in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia who provide the management and administrative support to the group. YSFP is a member's organisation where the majority of projects and work are conducted by the members living in the Pacific island nations with the management team aiming to provide them with support.

The primary feature of YSFP is it's email forum with over 200 active young leaders from the Pacific and several key youth development professionals from Governments, NGOs and multilateral organisations. The group is the largest such network in the region and was the first to be established in 2004, helping facilitate communication between the key players in the youth development sector in the region. It also provides young people with a direct voice to the professionals in the group.

In it's own capacity, the management team seek to assist the members and help them to develop too by promoting various youth development opportunities such as conferences to them, sourcing funding for member projects, providing links and project management support and through connecting them with various partners. The management team also work with key development agencies such as the World Bank, United Nations, the Secretariat for the Pacific Community and Governments to assist them with planning their youth related projects and strategies.

Conducting a study for the World Bank on youth issues in a rural village in the Eastern Highlands of PNG

Key Achievements and Projects:

• Successfully initiated the first Pacific Youth MDG Summit with UNDP and the Samoan Government in 2005 brining together 50 Pacific island youth and resulting in a wide spread recognition of the importance of youth in the region and good youth policy. The summit produced the Tofomamao Declaration and the Pacific Youth Statement on the MDGs

• Assisted Pacific youth with finding over $20,000US in grants for community projects and assisted in promoting the UNESCO Youth Visioning Fund.

• Produced the widely acclaimed "Pacific Youth Toolkit for the MDGs" with the support of the Australian National Commission to UNESCO

• Conducted consultations and assisted in the development of the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010 with the SPC

• Conducted a major study for the World Bank on the role of Youth Participation in Development following the World Development Report 2007

• Launching a program to build capacity among Pacific youth to launch Youth Media and Radio projects across the region in 2008 in partnership with the award winning organisation, Youth Action for Change.

History:

Youth for a Sustainable Future Pacifica (YSFP) was founded by Kate Morioka and Shasheen Jayaweera, the Australian representatives at the World Youth Congress in 2003. They realized that Pacific Youth did not have opportunities to attend many international MDG forums and thus implement MDG related projects in the Pacific.

As a result, YSFP started out as a network of youth around the Pacific who were keen to organise a summit in the Pacific to empower Pacific youth with the skills to implement the MDGs in their countries and also present to governments the first Pacific youth statement on the MDGs.

In 2004, the United Nations Country Team of Samoa, along with the Samoan Government agreed to take on YSFP's vision to host a regional South Pacific Youth Summit leading to the Pacific Youth MDG Summit in May 2005 which brought 56 youth together from 13 countries. The outcome documents have been regarded as some of the best outcome documents from any youth congress and presented to Pacific governments and the UN.

YSFP has now restructured to become a support organisation for all South Pacific Youth, helping them to develop and implement projects in their countries on each of the MDG areas. YSFP is linking the South Pacific to the World and supporting the implementation of the MDGs in the Pacific.

Since the Pacific Youth MDG Summit, the MDG's and youth issues have become the talk of the region. The Pacific Youth Plan for 05 -10 will include several recommendations from the Tofomamao Declaration. Many members have begun creating projects in their communities on MDG and youth issues. Membership has grown from 20 at the start of 2005 to over 170 with more members actively participating in discussion and projects. YSFP is aiming to create a Pacific Youth Grants program and is finding other grants for its members.

However more needs to be done. The MDGs are still far from being achieved be it 2015 or beyond. There are several young people with great ideas and initiative to do projects in the region and they need support.
 

YSFP helped find funding for the "On the Spot" radio program educating young Tongans about the MDGs and Youth issues.

The first copies of the YSFP developed MDG toolkit for Pacific youth arrive in a Vanuatu village, Efate Island.

The YSFP stall at the World Youth Congress in Scotland where YSFP was advocating the issues youth Pacific Island youth.

Courtney Seeto, 21, completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia in 2007. She is currently working for a small environmental consulting company based in Brisbane. Courtney has been a volunteer with YSFP since the end of 2005 helping with the creation of the YSFP Youth MDG Toolkit in 2006, and was involved in establishing the Pacific Youth Media Development Project in Tonga and PNG along with other organisations including Youth Action for Change and MediaSnackers in 2007-8. Courtney became a director of YSFP in November 2007. She is originally from Papua New Guinea, mixed Chinese. Born in Bougainville and raised in Lae PNG, she attended the International School of Lae (TISOL) up until grade 7, and then spent her high school and university years in Brisbane. Courtney is an avid participant in her community with roles as a Mentor and Student Partner at her university and a Coach for several youth sporting teams. Her interests include Environmental Sustainability, Youth Development and Physical Health, particularly in the Pacific Islands.

Ritambra Singh,19, is currently completing a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting and Banking & Finance at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Ritambra is an International Student Ambassador at her University. She is also currently a leader in the Young Australian Women's Alliance, an internet based support network for young women in Australia . Ritambra was recently nominated for an Industry Showcase award by the Queensland Government for Outstanding Achievement as an international student for her contribution to Queensland's international reputation. Born in India, Ritambra spent her formative years in Papua New Guinea whilst her teens were spent in Australia. Ritambra has been a volunteer with YSFP since the beginning of 2006 helping with the creation of the YSFP Youth MDG Toolkit. Ritambra became a director of YSFP in October 2006.

Shasheen Jayaweera, 22, was born in Sri Lanka and resides in Sydney, Australia. One of four finalists for Young Australian of the Year in NSW (2007), he is the co-founder and Director of Youth for a Sustainable Future Pacifika responsible for initiating the first Pacific Youth MDG Summit in 2005 and supporting youth and the UN MDGs in the region. Shasheen has worked on short assignments or delivered speeches in 8 countries. Shasheen also jointly directs a research team for the World Bank analyzing socio-economic issues in 6 countries, was an Australian representative on the Oxfam International Youth Parliament, and was also a representative to the World Youth Congress in 2005 & 2003 working on policy documents to the UN on youth involvement in the MDGs. He was also President of AIESEC UNSW, in 2004 and has advised the Australian Government on youth entrepreneurship as part of a National Youth Roundtable team. Shasheen has worked with and advised several NGOs and organisations working on areas relating to the MDGs. Shasheen is currently completing an economics degree at the University of NSW and has also worked in Government and Businesses and was recognized on the cover of 2 million Sydney Whitepages for achievements in social entrepreneurship. Shasheen is also currently an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development in Mongolia advising the Mongolian Chamber of Commerce on Private Sector Development.

e: shishj85[at]hotmail.com m: +61 (0) 425 250 631
 

Kate Morioka, 25,  completed a Masters in Social Planning and Development at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Kate has graduated from Bachelor of Social Science (Community and International Development) and Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies and Information Management) in June 2003. Kate is the President of the United Nations Student Association (UNSA), which is the oldest UN student organisation in Australia. Kate represented UNSA at the World Youth Congress held in Morocco 2003. Kate’s interests are in community and international development, sustainable development, disability and aged care, youth participation and empowerment and visual arts including photography and filmmaking.

e: morioka_k[at]hotmail.com

  Join over 200 pacific youth, and regional youth development professionals on our email list:

Copyright 2008 Youth for Sustainable a Future Pacifika. YSFP website supported by Peacechild International