President meets outstanding youths |25 March 2015

A group of 28 young people who have made exceptional contributions to the society were introduced to President James Michel at State House yesterday afternoon.

The 28 youths were chosen from a long list of applicants from a competition launched by the Northern Region Youth Committee with the aim of identifying Seychellois youths who have contributed and continue to contribute greatly to the community and the country as a whole.

“The competition was inspired by the 2015 Commonwealth theme chosen by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, which is ‘A Young Commonwealth’,” said Northern Region Youth Committee President Ziggy Adam.

Mr Adam stated that the youths who were chosen should have made exceptional contributions to the country as well as being role models within their community and they must show themselves to have the ability to keep contributing positively to the country.

The initiative to launch such a competition came from the committee’s vice-president, Angelique Pouponneau, who said that while listening to the Queen’s Commonwealth Day message she asked herself; what are the youth of Seychelles doing? Therefore, the idea for the competition came about so that they could find youths who are doing exceptional work for the country.

She added that the Commonwealth Youth Programme has decided to take Seychelles’ initiative and introduce it to other Commonwealth nations.

President Michel was visibly proud as he stated his joy at seeing determined youths striving to bring Seychelles further.

“I strongly believe that the country’s leaders should be a mixture of youth and experience and that is why I continue to put capable youth in leadership positions,” President Michel said.

He added; “To learn that the Commonwealth has chosen to adopt an initiative from Seychelles shows how far we have come as a nation.”

He urged the youths present to keep working hard and be role models for other young people so that Seychelles can continue to prosper.

President Michel then proceeded to greet the 28 youths individually as he learned more about their work and contributions.