A historical account of the SNYC by its founding member & CEO |09 March 2018
‘As a country, we need to trust our youth more’
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) - an independent statutory body whose main roles are to assist young people in meeting challenges, valorising achievements and creating opportunities; promote the active participation of youth in the community as well as national programmes and projects and encourage the collective effort of all partners and ownership of programmes by the youth.
In honour of this occasion, founding member and chief executive officer of the SNYC, Alvin Laurence, recounts the history, challenges and achievements of the council thus far and shares the objectives of the association going forward.
The founding and growth
The first youth policy was devised in 1995, recalls Mr Laurence, and many people, including representatives from districts, schools and youth groups, came together at the time to discuss what they wanted to achieve together as a country. It was strongly felt that there was a need to allow the youth to have a say in the decisions made by the country, especially with regard to matters that concern or affect young people.
A dedicated committee and its members were elected and Maxwell Julie became the first chairperson. The motto at that time was ‘Ini ver menm desten’ (United towards one destiny). The government immediately began discussions with the SNYC about youth related issues and the council has been working with the youth department since then.
Young people were soon attending forums organised by the Commission for Youth and Sports of the Indian Ocean (CJSOI) as well as Commonwealth meetings. At the same time, the council worked towards the initiation of other programmes and activities that the youth could partake in, including more sport, cultural and environmental undertakings.
The council, which started as a body to be the voice of the youth, gradually grew into a structure where it became the main mechanism for contacting young people and ensuring their participation in various activities.
Gradually, this changed as the youth department felt that there was a need to have more activities which would bring young people together to discuss their ideas. As a result, new programmes and educational forums, e.g. Seychelles National Youth Assembly (SNYA) and the Young Citizens Movement were developed.
In the past 20 years, the true essence of the SNYC has strengthened and today, it remains one of the important models of governance in the country whereby the youth department is responsible for decisions relating to policy making while the role of the council is to contribute towards the implementation of such policies.
Challenges in youth work
Youth work, however, remains a difficult task as the country has observed various changes in the lifestyle of young people and so there is a need for the association to adapt to these evolving changes/needs. For example, over time our population has become more literate and in the early 2000s, there was a need to introduce ‘internet cafes’ to ensure that all youth have access to the internet at an affordable price.
Currently, most people now have their own equipment such as laptops, tablets and smartphones so the new challenge is to find ways to ensure that the youth have connectivity.
Since the 90s, society has evolved to become a democratic system with more emphasis on our economy. In turn, many parents are now heavily engaged with their work as opposed to earlier days when at least one parent/family member was able to stay home with the children. As a result, parents have less contact time with their children; hence the SNYC needs to help ensure that the social aspect of young people’s lives are not being affected by this through dedicated activities such as the 2018 Values Programme.
Globalisation gives our youth the opportunity to interact with the world at large and hence they are not only being influenced by our local community. This poses a challenge for young people as they also have to face issues that exist worldwide. For example, some youth feel left out when their friends have technology gadgets that they cannot afford. The youth are not only facing the trials that come with studying but also keeping up their appearances and adapting to their friends.
One other significant challenge for the SNYC over the years has been the need to prioritise objectives based on the availability of resources but at the same time ensure that quality activities are continuously being made available for the youth and which respond to their needs as well. There are many things that the council wants to achieve, e.g. training of youth workers, but often these are limited and delayed due to a lack of human and capital resources. To note, there are many costs and risks involved, especially in large scale events like National Day and the Youth Festival.
Achievements of the SNYC
Although there is still a lot of work to be done, some of which take time, there have been many accomplishments over the years and everyone who has participated along the way, has played a role. Scientific surveys and studies have been conducted by the SNYC over the years to help the council better understand our youth’s lifestyle and to identify issues which need to be worked on and prioritised.
There has been and continues to be much emphasis on consultations with the youth as well as parents to understand what makes them happy and what problems they are facing. This has helped in the amelioration of young people’s lives, their health and security as well as their ability to better contribute to society. All this has also been made possible with the support of the government and parents.
The achievements cannot be quantified but today, many young leaders in the country that have engaged in one of the council’s programmes, structures or board can be identified, indicating that they have been empowered to lead others. To note, the SNYC has also been able to organise activities in some of the hardest times with the least possible resources.
It has also helped identify many artists/athletes and assisted them in some way or another through their dedicated programmes. However, once these individuals are on their own feet, the council refers them to a specialist organisation in their domain such as the National Sports Council (NSC), National Arts Council (NAC) and the Creative Industries and National Events Agency (CINEA).
Lately, the SNYC has also started helping young people with issues relating to employment as well as helping them to develop their entrepreneurial skills. At post-secondary graduation ceremonies, it has been observed that most of the president cup awardees are those that have been linked to the SNYC, indicating that opportunities other than academic studies have been made available.
The way forward
Many youth-led groups, movements and organisations have been formed in Seychelles and there are more affiliated members with the United Nations (UN) and Commonwealth which all aim to respond to the needs of our society. As a result, the SNYC is able to allow these individuals and groups to take the lead in their respective domains.
The role of the council is to assist when there is no one else doing so, to step in when there is a void and the new approach is to now empower/support the youth at the same time so that they can ultimately drive these movements themselves. When the youth are able to do this, the SNYC rests assured that they are on the right track.
In the long term, the association must remain a structure that empowers the youth but for the immediate future, it must give more support to active youth groups. They need assistance/guidance and also need to be given the right information.
International exposure is a good way for them to see the differences and similarities between the people of Seychelles and those of other countries, the sacrifices that make up success stories; the council does not want our youth to think it is easy, but it also does not want them to think it is impossible.
There are many young people doing positive things in our society and often these are overshadowed by some negative incidents. As a country, we need to trust our youth more and place our confidence in them to enable them to become empowered, more responsible and more engaged in our community.
The SNYC takes this opportunity to express its gratitude to all those who have served the council over the years.
Photo sources: SNYC