The Indian Ocean Youth Ecological Council (IOYEC) convenes in Seychelles |13 November 2023

‘Empowering the youth for a sustainable future’

By Sunny Esparon

The Seychelles National Youth Council in collaboration with the regional human rights organisation, Droits Humains Ocean Indien (Dis-Moi), is hosting the Indian Ocean Youth Ecological Summit in order to empower the youth, enhance their environmental awareness, and drive positive change in addressing the pressing ecological challenges within the region.

The conference’s opening ceremony took place yesterday at the Hall of the Ministry of Education in Mont Fleuri and brought together around 70 passionate young leaders, environmental activists, and experts from the Indian Ocean region.

The key objectives of the summit are to provide a platform for young leaders to enhance their knowledge and skills in ecological sustainability, leadership, and advocacy, promote cooperation among youth, governmental organisations, and civil society organisations to develop comprehensive ecological solutions and initiatives as well as educate communities about environmental issues.

When addressing the delegates, SNYC’s chief executive, Albert Duncan, thanked them and their organisations for making the event possible in such a limited amount of time.

He also wished them good interactions and fruitful debates and to bring their messages throughout the community.

Also present was the director general of Dis-Moi, Lindley Couronne, who outlined the summit’s objectives and emphasised the need for the dialogue to start with young people as they were the ones building the future.

For his part, Alvin Laurence, chief executive of the Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps), explained how important it was for their organisation to be part of the summit to enhance their networking considering that Dis-Moi was not only a regional force but an international one.

“This is why it is extremely important that Ceps forms part of this, so that we can teach the youth of the Indian Ocean to be fully responsible of human rights. Human rights link with other factors, such as environmental, ecological and social,” he said.

“The importance of summits such as this one was for prevention,” noted Mr Laurence. “When the youths are engaged, it means that in their apprenticeship, in their socialisation, they are growing up with good practice. This is the best way to reinforce the good cause,” he added.

The President of Dis-Moi, Roshan Rajroop, also addressed the delegates, calling on them to be the “tomorrow” that was “environmentally friendly”.

He noted that unfortunately there were some governments which were not taking the necessary actions and taking into account environmental issues.

“They are only taking on a little bit of the issues, not 100% of it, and this is not sufficient. If you destroy 10 trees, why not plant 10 trees?”

He also spoke about the ties between technological advancement and the environment of the future. He recounted that long ago, humans were self-sufficient growing their own fruits and vegetables in the garden.

“With the increasing population, there came mechanisation, then technology became more advanced and more scientific. The youngsters of tomorrow will be sitting behind a desk with the laptop in your hand controlling the garden!”

The week-long summit will cover various themes including capacity-building, advocacy and resolution, as well as youth in action. The participants will also take part in various discovery and ecological tours.

Photos by Sunny Esparon