Up Close ... with Angelique Pouponneau, a voice for the youth |28 June 2016
‘There’s no substitution for hard work’
Twenty-six-year-old Angelique Pouponneau has been recognised as an exceptional leader in her 
community as she recently received the prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders award.
Born and bred in the district of Bel Ombre, Angelique is an inspiring young woman who plays a vital role in the youth community as she helps to elevate the country to new heights through her contributions.
She uses the 3 H – humorous, honest and helpful ‒ to describe herself.
An optimist, who enjoys learning (proud to be a nerd), watching comedies and doing community work, Angelique is constantly trying to be a better person and do better than she did yesterday.
Her studies
After concluding her primary and secondary education at the Independent School, she proceeded to the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) where she studied Geography, English Literature, History and Sociology. She taught at Sals for about 8 months after which she left for university in the United Kingdom. She did law at the University of London International Programmes and later undertook the Bar Professional Training Course and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in October 2013. Upon her return home, she began pupillage (two years training before qualifying as an Attorney-at-law in Seychelles) with Kieran Shah as her pupil master. She was recently called to the Seychelles Bar in November 2015 and has since continued in private practice with a broad mixed practice of civil and criminal cases.
A youth activist
Angelique does whatever she can to help and tries to always see the positive side of life. She contributes a lot towards the youth of Seychelles as she finds they are a special group of people. After returning home in 2013 she felt the need to give back to the community. She said she had not anticipated to become a passionate advocate for young people. In fact she started with giving tuition to a girl at the St Elizabeth Convent then to some children from the School of Hearing-Impaired. This was further compounded when she became the Speaker of the 11th cohort of the Seychelles National Youth Assembly (SNYA).
In May 2014, she was invited to Mauritius to set up the SIDS Youth AIMS Hub (SYAH) and that is when she met another outstanding young lady, Anael Bodwell, and following that conference they co-founded the chapter in Seychelles and it is through the NGO and the Youth Assembly that she got to meet so many young people with immense potential and since then she has been an activist for youth inclusion and involvement in decision-making and questions of sustainable development as we automatically inherit the decisions taken today.
Her various roles
She says she is more of an initiator and incubator. She co-founded the SYAH, a youth-led NGO promoting and advancing sustainable development in the Seychelles and as part of the regional hub. She took care of planning and laying of the foundation, building partnership and advocacy for youth inclusion in all aspects of decision-making. At the start it was just her and Anael, for about six months, but by December, they decided it was best to let other Seychellois youth take on the leadership positions, therefore a new board was elected in December 2014 and since then she’s been responsible for communications.
She also initiated Young Legal Minds, an NGO for young lawyers which hosts monthly lectures and discussions to increase their knowledge and also offer a means for law students to engage with young lawyers.
She’s also an ordinary member of the Global Shapers Victoria Hub and Bel Ombre district youth committee.
Currently she holds an executive position in the Commonwealth Youth Council and was elected to vice-chairperson for the Inclusion and Engagement in Malta in November 2015.
“My main responsibility is increasing membership to the Council and with a special focus on groups that are often marginalised such as young people with disabilities, the LGBTI community and young people without access to internet. I also am in charge of events planning for the Council and the main event is the Commonwealth Youth Forum that will be taking place in 2018,” she said.
Her views on issues youth are facing
She thinks the issue that is showing the greatest signs of impact on our young people is the problem of drugs. She said it is unfortunate that young people are preyed on but also that they fall victim to this. From speaking with those who work with young people who are addicted, she learned that drugs is not a social problem, but the result of a social problem. Therefore she is more of an advocate of building resilience of young people to tackle the problems that they face where they don’t opt for alcohol or drugs as a means to cope.
Using herself as an example she said she does not drink alcohol out of personal choice with four years in UK and living in Seychelles where alcohol is almost part and parcel of life. Because of that, she has been teased, mocked, sometimes excluded because of not drinking, and she never once faltered as it is for her conviction and determination to stick to a choice that she has made – that of staying a teetotaller.
The other big issue to her is the existential threat of climate change. For her the issue needs to be championed if our young people are to have a home in a few decades.
Her goals
She had been rooting to be the first female Chief Justice – it looks like CJ Twomey has beaten her to it (giggles). She operates on two-year plans and she plans to complete an LLM (Master of Laws) and finish her term in office for the Commonwealth Youth Council having achieved something tangible for the youth of the Commonwealth. For now, she is taking life one step at a time and after that she will see what life has in store for her.
The legal framework of Seychelles
Being a barrister and an Attorney-at-law she said it is always interesting in the legal system of Seychelles. She enjoys conducting hearings and trials and researching different areas of law. She finds it is generally friendly between lawyers and between judges and lawyers and as a young lawyer there are many challenges she faces. However she is grateful for the guidance and advice provided to her by senior lawyers like Mr Shah and judges whenever she needs advice.
Her inspiration
“My parents inspire me to work harder. They taught me that life wasn’t meant to be easy and that everything you want you must work very hard for. My mother always says there really is no substitution for hard work. They both motivate me to work hard and improve but with different approaches. My father strokes my ego but always offers constructive criticism and my mother keeps me grounded and humble as she always advises me to remain true to who I am and what I believe in.”
Meeting the Queen
She met Queen Elizabeth II on three various occasions ‒ while representing Seychelles at a Commonwealth event in London in 2013 at Buckingham Palace, then during a reception at the Commonwealth Secretariat hosted by the then secretary general of the Commonwealth for Commonwealth Day, and the third time while receiving the Queen's Young Leaders Award ceremony at Buckingham Palace recently.
By Ralista Hortere