About 400 youths from the Rewa Delta celebrated International Youth Day at the Nausori Village community hall on Wednesday.
Youth and Sports Minister Parveen Kumar said marking the event in a village setting was meaningful given the challenges rural youths were facing because of the COVID-19 crisis.
He said his ministry was visiting villages and asking chiefs to give unused land to their youth.
“When everything is arranged, my ministry will support the youth in cleaning the land and supplying seeds and gardening tools.
“I am pleased that some villagers that we went to are giving their youths the unused land to plant on.”
Mr Kumar encouraged Nausori youths to be responsible citizens and to help in looking after their families and their communities.
After touring tents which displayed various youth projects being undertaken, he handed over grants to selected youths.
The recipients were: Tacirua Heights farmer Lawata Vakacegu who received farming materials; Moieez Almaz Ali from Waila got three tents for his hire business; Semisi Raicebe from Visa Village received automotive tools; and Mereani Turagabeci of Nadali Village got a deep freezer and three bags of chicken.
The US ambassador to Fiji, Joseph Cella, also hosted a showcase highlighting youth initiatives and US educational opportunities last week on Tuesday, August 10 at the US Embassy.
