Angelique Pouponneau to receive prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders award |09 December 2015

Angelique Pouponneau is one of 60 young people from across the Commonwealth who are being recognised as exceptional leaders in their community and they will receive a prestigious Queen’s Young Leaders award.

The award, which will be presented in London by Her Majesty The Queen in 2016 and is part of The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme, celebrates the achievements of young people who are taking the lead to transform the lives of others and make a lasting difference in their communities.

This year’s award winners, aged between 18 and 29 and who come from all over the Commonwealth, are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of different issues including education, climate change, gender equality, mental health and disability equality.

Pouponneau, 25, has been selected in recognition of her work to preserve the environment.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION she said: “The sustainable development of small islands is particularly important to me. Through the organisation I co-founded – Small islands developing states (Sids) Youth AIMS Hub – Seychelles – I help to teach young people about the role they can play in caring for their home. I am so honoured to be part of the Queen’s Young Leaders programme. ”

Ms Pouponneau added that when she first received the news she was ecstatic!

“I was excited and proud to be the first awardee of the Queen's Young Leaders Award in Seychelles. I know I have a duty to continue to make my country, our youth and SYAH-SEYCHELLES shine. I had applied last year but was offered the fellowship with the Royal Commonwealth Society instead but that did not dissuade me from continuing the community work and applying this year. All boils down to hard work and determination,” said the 25-year-old.

She added that the award will give her the opportunity to have leadership training and mentoring at the University of Cambridge and the best opportunity to network with other young people around the Commonwealth.

“I have found that this can help achieve global impact. This award will give SYAH-SEYCHELLES global visibility for the work it is carrying out at national level and it is definitely thanks to my SYAH family that I have received this award,” added Ms Pouponneau.

She co-founded the youth-led non-governmental organisation SYAH-SEYCHELLES to help promote and advance sustainable development projects. So far they have spearheaded ‘A Seychelles Free from Plastic Bags’ campaign which has led to the recent announcement that plastic bags would be banned.

SYAH has been spearheading climate change education for young people with the climate change bus tour, climate change youth forum, the high-level youth dialogue, COP IN VICTORIA, mass clean up and ensuring the participation of youth in conference on climate change and COP21 in Paris. They have also organised a series of hikes, snorkelling and dives to encourage young people to interact with the environment with the objective of developing an affinity to protect the environment and become effective advocates for sustainable development.

This is Ms Popouneau’s latest achievement after she was elected onto the new leadership team of the Commonwealth Youth Council as vice-chairperson responsible for inclusion and engagement.

That was during the general assembly at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Malta. The council represents national youth bodies from 53 countries.

TheQueen’s Young Leaders Programme was established in 2014 by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society in recognition of The Queen’s lifetime of service to the Commonwealth.

Over the next three years the Programme will support thousands of young people to achieve their goals.

Dr Astrid Bonfield, chief executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, said: “Once again 60 incredible young people from around the Commonwealth have shown strength, leadership, empathy and drive. Some of our winners are just embarking on their leadership journey and others are more established. Either way, we recognise not only what these amazing young people have achieved, but also their potential in changing people’s lives for the better in the countries and communities in which they live.”