The gathering took place at the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Noumea last month and brought together the HODs from nine of the Pacific countries expected to take part in the conference, as well as representatives from the New Caledonia Government and many of the other organisations involved.
Chaired by Franck Castillo, the PYASC CEO and OFC Head of Social Responsibility and International Relations, the meeting had three main objectives and each of these areas were comprehensively covered by the attendees.
First on the agenda was to further define the sub-themes of the conference, which have been decided as being health, education and social inclusion.
The other items were a discussion of the fundraising process and communication plan that each HOD will adopt, and the need to put together a ‘logic model’ for the respective countries. A logic model is a planning and implementation tool and will be used by the HODs to make sure their preparations for the conference run smoothly.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for the heads to familiarise themselves with the Cultural and Sport Arena, a venue in Paita that has been lined up to stage the event, as well as the accommodation sites that will play host to the 1,000 young participants set to descend on Noumea for the conference.
“We need to inspire youth to actively participate in this conference and motivate them to do something for their community when they come back home,” Castillo says.
“The Heads of Delegation will play a major role in this. They will select the participants and prepare their delegations to attend the conference. At the conference, they will help their delegation to design a project that will be presented at the end to the 1,000 youth and the Ministers of Youth and Sport in attendance.”
But Castillo says the roles of the HODs will not come to an end once the conference has finished and that the event is intended to be a starting point for further social development across the Pacific.
“The most important thing will be to continue this work after the conference and oversee the implementation of concrete projects. The conference will become just a piece of a big puzzle but obviously a very important one.”
OFC is joining forces with the New Caledonia Government and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to organise and stage the PYASC, the first edition of which was held in 2010 in Manukau, New Zealand.
The PYASC brings together participants aged 16 to 25 years old from 25 different Pacific countries and offers a platform to discuss sport for development and to foster successful relationships between youth organisations, sporting bodies, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and partners.
The ultimate goal of the conference is to improve the lives of young people in the Pacific through sport.

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