FOURTEEN boys, from around the Pacific, gathered for the first time to ensure youth rights, empowerment and voices across a wide range of issues are heard and represented.
In a statement, UNICEF said it had launched and supported the Young Pasifika Wayfinders whose members are aged between 15 and 19.
The group will provide feedback on UNICEF Pacific’s work with and for adolescents, including policy, advocacy, programming, and strategy.
“In the Pacific, 40 per cent of the population are under 18 years of age. Yet, adolescent girls and boys do not always have access to safe spaces where they can voice their thoughts, influence policies, and create meaningful change,” UNICEF said.
It said adolescence is a critical window for identity formation when values are shaped, and positive behaviours can be encouraged to challenge harmful norms.
“This approach recognises boys’ unique needs and their power to influence change as peers, learning advocacy, respect, and responsibility to become role models who help shift the norms that drive inequality.”
In the coming months, the Young Pasifika Wayfinders will design social media campaigns, collaborate with other youth movements and organise events with Pasifika adolescents in their home countries.
A participant from the Cook Islands, said the group discussed issues such as mental health, cyberbullying, online safety, climate change and gender stereotypes.
“We don’t just follow the tide, we shift it. We carry the strength of our ancestors and the hopes of our future,” he said.
“Every conversation, every step forward, helps create safer spaces for young people like us.
“The change starts with us. We will not stop until our voices are heard and our communities healed.”
The first participant from Fiji said the group’s first role as adolescent advisers was to a company called Evident, which is partnered with UNICEF.
“We shared our ideas about how popular culture, games, sports, and even music albums could look if they reflected Pacific Island culture,” he said.
“Imagine popular online games with island settings and traditional designs. It was exciting to bring our perspectives into spaces that usually overlook us.”
Another participant from Fiji said: “As a young Pasifika Wayfinder, I speak from the heart, not just for myself, but for all my Pacific brothers.
“We are sons of the ocean, rooted in culture, tradition, and strength, but behind the strength, many young people carry silent struggles, mental health battles, pressure from school and family, as well as the weight of trying to prove we are man-enough.”
Members of UNICEF Pacific’s newly formed Young Pasifika Wayfinders advisory group take part in the inaugural workshop. Picture: SUPPLIED.
