Participants at the Joint Workshop

A joint workshop between Honiara City Council (HCC) and the Ministry of Women,Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA) was held at the Star Events conference room yesterday.

Participants at the event included the HCC clerk, deputy clerk, MWYCFA permanent secretary, Heads of Department of HCC, Councilors, Head of Youth & Women/HCC and technical staff.

The joint workshop was held to introduce the new 3-Tier Policy Framework for Youth Development in Solomon Islands and served as a platform for the proposal to develop Honiara City Implementing Strategies for youth development and empowerment in Honiara.

The program kicked off with a few remarks from City Clerk, Mr Charles Kelly.

He said that Honiara is a melting point thus policies created must attract the youths in a manner that indulges their attendance, participation and involvement.

Mr Kelly also stressed that whilst in the process of creating the new framework, one must think outside the box.

The new 3-tier policy framework comprises of the new National Youth Policy (NYP), new Strategic Framework for Youth Development in Solomon Islands (SFYDSI) and the new National Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Strategy (NYEES).

In addition, the other component of the workshop was to provide the opportunity for HCC to take the lead in the process towards the development of it’s Urban Implementation Strategy/Policy for Youth Development in the capital with support from MWYCFA.

As the program unfolded, HCC Youth Division representative, Ms Mary Tuhaika delivered a presentation to enlighten participants of the Honiara City Council’s experience in implementing a Urban Youth Policy.