Seychellois wins first prize in UN Youth Assembly competition |24 August 2018

17-year-old Alvania Lawen has recently returned from the United Nations Youth Assembly (UNYA) conference which took place from August 6 - 17.

Alvania and her fellow colleague, Nathanielle Morel, are members of UN Youth Seychelles and together with the rest of their team, won first prize for their proposal which focuses on the sustainable development goals of the UN Youth Assembly, specifically in relation to quality education, gender equality, good jobs and economic growth.

In the following interview, Alvania shares her journey as a delegate.

Q: Tell us a bit about your background.

A: I was born on March 22, 2001 to Greg and Siricka. I have three sisters (my special people) -- Jessica, Nathalia and Eva Lawen. I went to Anse Boileau primary and secondary schools. I am studying French literature, English Language and Geography at the School of Advanced Level Studies (SALS). I aspire to be an environmentalist and have started contributing towards the betterment of the environment since I was 9 years old.

Q: How did you become a UNYA delegate?

A: I learnt about the UNYA through a non-government organisation (NGO) I volunteer with called UN Youth Seychelles, led and founded by Annarose Clarisse. A UNYA delegate is an individual aged from 15 to 29 that is part of and attends the assembly.

In order to attend the conference, you need to apply and be selected by the organising team called Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (FAF); you also need to find your own means of funding. I was successful in applying and also applied to the Environmental Trust Fund to receive the sponsorship I needed. They approved and I am very grateful towards the trust fund for assisting me, as I would have not been able to attend if not.

I was later assisted by the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, as well as the Ministry of Education through sponsorship for material needed for the trip and support.

Q: Why did you want to become a delegate?

A: This is because I’ve been a member of UN Youth Seychelles for over 2 years now, so I’ve seen the impact that UNYAs have had on past Seychellois delegates, and I’ve read detailed reports made by Annarose Clarisse which fascinated me and made me want to experience it first-hand.

Furthermore, all the NGOs I volunteer with are around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and I contribute mainly towards environment-related SDGs (SDG 13 climate action, 14 life below water, 15 life on land). With the assembly being focussed solely on the SDGs and all the activities helping the delegates to better understand, incorporate and work for the SDGs, I find this very fitting.

Q: Tell us about your experience of the programme.

A: The experience has been amazing; the premier programme I was engaged in encompassed seminars and project developments in New Jersey, the UNYA in New York which also included a variety of side events at universities such as George Washington Uni to New York Uni, as well as community work, and finally workshops and sessions in Washington DC at places such as the World Bank Headquarters, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Senate and House Gallery.

Alvania at the IMF Headquarters, Washington D.C and at the UN Headquarters, New York

The programme is extremely bulky and exhausting but in a way that excites you, engages you and empowers you to continue doing good and advancing in your field with better knowledge, capabilities and material to bring back to Seychelles.

The workshops and breakout sessions were most often deliberated by youth who share their success and failure stories, and how to get back up when you fail, as well as their perspectives of how the organisations they are part of work which helped a lot. The seminars in DC were an eye opener and really clarify a lot.

Q: What significance does your participation in the assembly bring for our country?

A: All of my achievements, I dedicate to my country. My level of pride to be representing my country at the UNYA brings tears to my eyes.

During the New Jersey part of the assembly, all attendants were obligated to create a Social Venture Sustainable Development (SVSD) project and compete against each other. Nathanielle Morel (my Seychellois colleague who was there with me) and myself were placed by the FAF in a group alongside other African members (Uduakodong Etukondo, Nigeria; Michele Kouamelan, Ivory Coast; Vanessa Dove-Nicol, Sierra Leone).

Our project was called Goals 4 Girls, which aimed at providing internships for young girls from Sierra Leone, which therefore concentrates on SDG8 for good jobs and economic growth, 4 for quality education and 5 for gender equality.

Our project won first place for the SVSD competition, us being the first Seychellois to win at such an international level as an African team is regarded as high importance.

Also, being at the assembly and learning so much has better equipped me to raise awareness and involve more youth in the work towards the SDGs in Seychelles.

Q: How will you use the knowledge and experience gained from this going forward?

A: I will use what I have learnt in all the NGO work that I do. With the knowledge and skills acquired, I will be able to preach about the SDGs in more depth and integrate them with better understanding and coherence with the sub-themes of the SDGs.

I know this knowledge will be of great use to me in school and in future endeavours such as my career, projects and volunteer work.