Youth Participation: A Bridge to Opportunities - Nigel Akuani

Port Moresby: Real opportunities that benefit young people bring about effective youth participation.

This reflective statement was made by the Year-Eleven students of Jubilee Catholic Secondary during their talk on the topic ‘Youth Participation in Decision Making’ on TribeFM’s Chatroom program of Wednesday 13th November.

In their discussion the students dealt with a definition of the topic, its importance, factors affecting participation, importance of role models, recommendations and a call for the government to assist with the empowering of young people.

Jamieson Lalaga defined youth as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to the independence of adulthood. He said that adults need to understand this. 

“This transition allows a young person’s consciousness, active participation, creativity, independence and ability to take responsibility for their actions. Effective youth participation is about creating opportunities for young people to be involved in influencing, shaping, designing and contributing to policy and the development of services and programs,” he said.

Ian Waho stressed the importance of youth participation in decision making and said it was essential for young people to contribute effectively and positively to society.

Solange Dawana spoke of the proper role models in society. 

“Youth involvement in decision making is lacking in Papua New Guinea because many young people today do not have someone positive to look up to,” she said. “In Papua New Guinea we tend to give the upper hand to the elders in our society because of our respect for them. To achieve cooperation, participation and workflow in society, young people have to be acknowledged and given the opportunity to act,” she added.

Felicianna Konga concluded the discussions recommending that the elders in society to provide pathways necessary for young people to contribute on matters. 

“They need to be given a chance to speak their minds, if not, they will tend to look for it elsewhere.  They will be going against adult supervision without a second thought as to whether their decisions are good or bad,” she said.

Chatroom’s next session on Wednesday 20th November will have Students of St Charles L’wanga Secondary and Specialists from UNICEF discuss the importance of the upcoming ‘International Children’s Day’.

Port Moresby Nature Park has reopened its gates after closure

Port Moresby Nature Park has reopened its gates following a nine-day closure, much to the relief of the NCD community, school groups and tour companies, following orders of the National Court this morning.

Public Statement re Re-opening/Facebook

Port Moresby Nature Park is the only internationally wildlife-welfare accredited facility in the South Pacific Islands, obtained by the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia firmly cementing the as one of the world’s top wildlife facilities, with proven commitment to animal welfare, conservation, education and research.

HERE IS THE REASON WHY PORT MORESBY NATURE PARK WAS CLOSED

The Nature Park is happy to be back serving the community, teaching school children, training university students, conducting research, saving wildlife and providing venue hire and fun activities for friends and family to come together.

The Nature Park's immediate priority is to recommence our school excursion program, “Beasts with Bites”, which had been suspended due to the closure resulting in over 1,444 school students missing out on the program last week.  

Our focus is to ensure that any school classes that were prevented from coming to the Park last week will have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Beasts with Bite’ schools' program as we will extend the program to ensure no schools or students miss out this great learning opportunity. 

In light of the festive season, the Nature Park will also run a special promotion for Christmas parties. We wish to thank all the businesses and families that have booked to host their functions at the Park as we do encourage more to do so in support of the Park.

The management and staff would like to convey our deepest gratitude to the community,  our sponsors and NCDC in particular for the support throughout. We are eager to continue delivering our mission for the benefit of all.