Going forward, new members of the Seychelles National Youth Assembly (SNYA) will be elected rather than selected.
It was the chief executive of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC), Penny Belmont, who made the announcement on Saturday morning at a ceremony to celebrate and honour the contributions of the outgoing 17th SNYA cohort.
The SNYA programme is an educational forum which provides opportunity for members to broaden and develop their knowledge and learning, while enabling them also to cultivate deeper research and to acquire public speaking skills. It encompasses youth empowerment and youth participation in national development.
The ceremony, which formed part of activities to celebrate SNYC’s 24th anniversary, was attended by the Minister for Youth, Sports and Family, Marie-Celine Zialor; the principal secretary for Youth and Sports, Ralph Jean-Louis; the principal secretary for Family, Clive Roucou; the principal secretary for Education Services, Merna Eulentin; deputy chief of SNYC, Ghislaine Belmont; the ministry’s special advisor, Kevin Vidot; the director general of the National Assembly of Seychelles, Godfra Hermitte; past SNYA speakers, other guests and the young parliamentarians.
In her speech, CEO Belmont stated that with the continued development and change happening within the youth community, further to government putting much effort on the development of the youth, SNYC has decided to relook at the way a candidate is chosen to sit on the youth assembly and also the age limit at which a youth can enter the programme.
The SNYA programme for youths in secondary schools, post-secondary institutions and in the districts was from the ages of 15 to 30 and now the age has been lowered to allow 14-year-olds to also enter the programme.
Instead of being selected for a seat, as was the case in the past, the youths will be elected by their peers in an election to be coordinated by the Electoral Commission (EC) with the collaboration of SNYC and the Ministry of Education.
Ms Belmont stated that SNYC will put in place a ‘Think Tank’ platform for young professionals and other youths who cannot make it in SNYA, for them to bring about their concerns, projects and other positive attributes for the development, growth and well being of the youths.
She said that through the various programmes, SNYC makes it a responsibility to offer youth the possibility to participate in the development of the country.
She added that the SNYA programme has moulded and inspired young leaders many of whom have taken up high leadership roles and other high positions in the country.
She commended the past SNYA members for their contributions and urged the outgoing members to continue to live and spread the values learned on the programme.
Around 700 youths have passed through the SNYA programme since it was established in July 2003. The outgoing 42 members of the 17th cohort have been office bearers for the past two years since 2020 as the 2021 cohort was not inducted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his speech, the outgoing speaker, Darius Petrousse, said that they did their best in their time to meet their objectives to make an impactful change and to contribute their part in the development of our country although they were indeed affected by Covid-19.
The adventurous sittings, attending of local and international workshops and forums, youth sensitisations, planting local spices in effort spread awareness among the young generation on those spices, responding to calls for donation of blood, learning our own language, clean up exercises among other voluntary and civic duties were some of the achievements of the 17th cohort he highlighted.
In spite of these achievements, Speaker Petrousse later said that the 17th cohort was not too happy with regard to some decisions taken that will have a direct impact on the youths, such as with the coming in of the 18th cohort, of which they were not consulted.
It was PS Jean-Louis, PS Eulentin and deputy CEO Belmont who presented the outgoing 17th cohort with their certificates.
The past speakers were also honoured for their contributions and those present received a token of appreciation from Minister Zialor.
It is to be noted that Honourable Clifford Andre, the elected member of Parliament for Anse Aux Pins, was the first SNYA speaker back in 2003.
During the ceremony Magalie Jumaye and Daryl Adolph representing Baie Lazare and Plaisance districts respectively were recognised for being the most committed and most engaged members of the 17thcohort. They were presented with a token of appreciation by CEO Belmont.
The two young parliamentarians said they were happy and felt honoured to accept the recognition for their contributions towards the well being of SNYA.
Apart from Speaker Petrousse and Speaker Andre, other speakers that served the SNYA are Roy Bibi, Roy Banane, Sheryl Vangadasamy, Kevin Vidot, Jean-Marc Athanase, Ziggy Adam, Darel Uranie, Jellissa Julie, Shamira Desir, Roberto Legaie, Marlon Esparon, Hansel Vidot, Vanessa Seth and Angelique Pouponneau. Honourable Naddy Zialor was also honoured for his role as a deputy speaker.
Source: Seychelles Nation
