News
On February 17, Young Pacific Leaders are coming together to showcase their successes, learn from one another’s challenges, and explore future plans and possibilities.
The U.S. Department of State, in partnership with Cultural Vistas, is delighted to be hosting the Young Pacific Leaders Project Showcase, a virtual interactive networking event.
Date: February 17, 2022.
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 PM New Zealand Time
Where: Zoom.
(Please see registration info below).
Fourteen teams of Young Pacific Leaders representing nine different Pacific nations and territories were awarded funding of up to $10,000 USD each. Through the 2021 Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Small Grants Program, the teams implemented projects in the region related to the YPL Program’s core themes of education, environment and resource management, civic leadership, and economic and social development.
“These groups have been able to accomplish truly amazing things. Coming together for this showcase — sharing their successes, and their lessons-learned — is another professional development opportunity. It is a gift from one young leader to another,” says U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Samoa, Thomas Udall.
This year’s diverse array of projects includes:
- the launch of a marketplace in Papua New Guinea for local vendors to generate income;
- creating a community computer lab and computer literacy skills in the rural Solomon Islands;
- a media camp to improve the journalism skills of youth in Tonga;
- and more.
Reflecting on their program experience, previous participants have emphasised the rippling impact of YPL.
“We saw [our] project create many opportunities for leadership growth and personal and professional development for our participants. However, we also saw the huge impact this YPL small grant will have for our communities.”
The February 17 showcase will be an opportunity for participants to further consider how YPL projects can be designed and executed to best contribute, at both the village and regional scales, around the Pacific region.
The Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Initiative is a U.S. Government-funded initiative through the U.S. Department of State focused on strengthening leadership development for emerging leaders in Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Islands of French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the American-affiliated Pacific including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii.
“Through this program, we’re proud to support Young Pacific Leaders as they address issues of most pressing concern to our Pacific region,” says Ambassador Thomas Udall.
“It’s fantastic to see how Young Pacific Leaders work with their communities to increase prosperity, advance transparency, and build resiliency to climate change and COVID-19 impacts,” he added.
Since the YPL Small Grants Program’s inception in 2018, 114 YPL Alumni across 17 Pacific countries and territories have implemented and led 38 small grants projects..
To register and for more info:
For those interested in attending and actively participating in the Showcase, please register in advance here: https://bit.ly/YPL_SmallGrants_Showcase .
The event will also be livestreamed on the We Are Young Pacific Leaders Facebook and Instagram pages: @YoungPacificLeaders and @weareyoungpacificleaders .
More information on the YPL Small Grants Program and other opportunities with Young Pacific Leaders can be found at nz.usembassy.gov/young-pacific-leaders and culturalvistas.org/ypl . For questions, please email yplgrants@culturalvistas.org.