New youth integrity ambassadors make pledges |30 August 2023

The 23 new youth integrity ambassadors in a souvenir photo (Photo credit: Rodney Esparon – Island Visuals)

• 10-day camp ends with certificate presentation

A group of 23 secondary four students who completed a week-long Youth for Integrity Camp made their two pledges as integrity ambassadors last Friday during the closing ceremony at the Site auditorium.

“As integrity ambassadors, we pledge to advocate for ethics, transparency, and accountability and of course, good governance. We would like to ask the Ministry of Education to consider organising similar activities like this Youth for Integrity Camp.”

“We express our desire to give the climate change crisis more attention and support. We ask that the government and all those involved with conservation, make sure we always do the right thing for our environment.”

The two pledges support some of the issues which the new ambassadors have learned about during the camp.

Transparency Initiative Seychelles (TiS) organised the camp as a project financed by the national grants committee of the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade.

In a press release, TiS said the idea is to have the camp as an annual event where young minds get the chance to learn about governance-related issues, in a holistic manner.

The week-long programme included contributions from organisations involved in ensuring justice, human rights, consumer awareness and policy and lawmaking.

“Strong emphasis was particularly put on upholding the rule of law in how the government is structured, with the executive, legislative and judicial branch remaining separate powers, as well as the Ombudsman's unique function,” stated the press release.

To reinforce the underlying messages and concepts, presentations were always followed by engaging activities or interactive dialogues and discussions.

Sophie Lagrenade, senior education and training officer from the Seychelles Human Rights Commission, kicked off the talks with a session on human rights as our super power.

Thereza Dogley, chief executive of the Information Commission provided a detailed presentation on the laws that govern access to information that complemented the human rights session.

It tied into the presentation by executive director of Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), Sven Biermann on building trust through transparency by using access to information in fisheries as a prime example.

There were also presentations by Neddy Padayachy, principal analyst from the Fair Trading Commission, on consumer rights, honest business practices and how to take responsibility as consumers as well as one by Alvin Laurence, chief executive of the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps) who highlighted the role of civil society in promoting and even ensuring transparency, accountability and good governance.

For the theme of law and order, the day was filled with intensive talks from Honourable Bernard Georges on the role of the National Assembly and how the parliament makes decisions.

Other organisations represented were the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS), the office of the Ombudsman, office of the Attorney General, as well as the judiciary.

They were also given an insight into the Vision 2033 and ambitions for Seychelles' economy in the next five to 10 years by the Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade, where the students had the opportunity to ask

challenging questions and raise critical issues regarding the state of the economy and the role that all citizens have in ensuring that Seychelles has a thriving economy.

The students were also trained on media literacy including basic theories concerning communications, credible or reliable sources, recognising bias and manipulation so as to distinguish between "fake news" and "honest reporting".

Climate issues got the participants thinking about the future health of Seychelles and the planet, including good governance in climate matters, which according to TiS is increasingly becoming a hot topic as collective global attention, efforts, accountability and subsequent funding increases.

“This is a growing concern, especially for future custodians of our natural heritage and is the reasoning behind it being one of the pledges by the new ambassadors,” it stated.

There was a strong emphasis on wellness in the planning and the organisers invited Lucie Harter from MOVE with Lucie, to lead daily morning sessions in which both physical and mental concepts of wellness were introduced and practiced.

In line with wellness, on the final day, Jimmy Petrousse, renowned psychotherapist, emphasised on the meaning of integrity and its importance in building a strong and healthy human psyche in any leadership role, such as leading the self, the family home or a national government.

In the sessions with the deputy British High Commissioner Matthew Harper, the students worked in groups to elect an ambassador for their designated country and role played a negotiation for international diplomatic relations.

In her closing remarks, Amisha Larue, one of the new ambassadors said, “Youth for Integrity has opened our eyes to new possibilities and inspired us to think more mindfully about important matters and to become better citizens. Citizens with integrity. Citizens who look out for wrongdoing and do not ignore it, but talk about it and act in ethical ways. As integrity ambassadors, we pledge to advocate for ethics, transparency, accountability, and of course, good governance,” she stated.

At the end of the camp, the 23 new youth integrity ambassadors also received their certificates.

Compiled from TIS press release