23rd Youth Festival to be officially launched today on International Youth Day |12 August 2022
(L to r) Ms Cadence, deputy CEO Belmont, CEO Belmont and Mr Mederic during the meeting with the press (Photo: Louis Toussaint)
SNYC unveils host of activities to be held under the theme ‘Imagine the Possibilities’
A host of activities organised to celebrate the 23rd Youth Festival, which will be officially launched today on the International Youth Day, was unveiled yesterday.
The chief executive of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC), Penny Belmont, and her team unveiled the activities which will be held from August 12 to 27 under the theme ‘Imagine the Possibilities’ during a meeting with the press at the council’s head office at Sacos Tower yesterday morning.
The calendar of activities will officially start today, August 12, with the commemoration of International Youth Day which this year is under the theme ‘Intergeneration Solidarity’. This will be during an official ceremony this morning at the Savoy Resort & Spa, Beau Vallon.
Ms Belmont said for this year the SNYC has put together some 25 activities that will involve youths from all over the country including those in prison.
Ms Belmont stressed that they have launched campaigns to inform the youths of the various activities on the programme so they could choose the ones that better suit their interests and abilities.
The different activities on the programme include the launch of a new platform- the Think Tank, targeting young professionals. Through the platform, young people between the ages of 18 and 30 will allow their voices to be heard on different decision-making processes as well as various issues affecting them. Financial education sessions, sports, donation, visits, self-defence training for girls, prison visits and education, cinematography workshops, spelling bees competitions, mental health talks and much more also feature on the programme.
Ms Belmont noted that some of the activities require early registration due to the limitation on the number of participants.
Marcus Mederic, the director for youth empowerment and wellbeing at the SNYC, stated that, “we need to be present for all the youths. We, as the SNYC, our vision is to empower all youths. Some of the statistics show that there are a number of young people incarcerated at the prison and we decided to include them in the programme”.
Mr Mederic noted that the intervention will be two-way; preventive, targeting youths with potential risk factors, get them to have an interaction with the young inmates. He added that even though some youths are being mentored, it will not have an effect until they see for themselves other young people in prison. The second aspect is restorative, and it is focused more towards youths who have been incarcerated.
“We want to create a culture that changes the mindset and brings about restoration among the youths in the prison,” Mr Mederic said.
Both the preventive and restorative programmes will be on two different days. One is interaction with the youths in prison and the other is a sports programme.
Ghislaine Belmont, deputy chief executive of the SNYC, stated that many of their partners have stepped forward to assist in the Youth Festival programme, noting that various organisations have approached the SNYC offering their support and many activities will also be held virtually.
She highlighted that youths aspiring to become entrepreneurs are also included and a special meet and greet has been organised with successful business entrepreneurs.
Josette Cadence, the coordinator for youth leadership development, noted that the entrepreneurs meet and greet is targeted towards the youths who attended a similar activity held previously.
“They are youths who are very interested in building their own business… and this will give them the opportunity to learn more about what having a business is like. We see many youths venturing in their own business but then shortly after they become discouraged,” she said.
Ms Cadence added that the activity will boost their confidence, advise and help them decide if they really want to start and grow a business.
The information for the activities for the Youth Festival is being advertised on various social media platforms as well as the national televisions and newspapers.
Marla Simeon