Up to 800 participants, guest speakers, local and national government representatives gathered at the Arene du Sud in Paita for day one of the five-day conference.
Proceedings got underway with an introduction of the Heads of Delegation from each of the participating countries, who have been an essential part of the build-up to the event.
The HODs expressed the gratitude of all the participants with a customary cultural offering to representatives of the New Caledonia community before Oceania Football Confederation executive committee member and Football Federation Samoa President Toetu Petana welcomed everyone on behalf of conference co-conveners OFC.
“May I extend my gratitude to the honourable Minister of Youth Jean-Claude Briault and your government for your generous hospitality which has been extended to us all,” Petana said.
“I can speak for how sports has helped young people in my own country, especially football, with our young people involved in the Just Play Programme.
“As we can see, this is a great building block towards fostering support of football given the competition from other sports in our respective regions as it welcomes every level of participation from as young as six years old.
“But that is not to say that other sports are not as active in implementing development programmes and training camps that all add value to making sports a key to unlocking the potential in our youth.”
Director General of the South Pacific Community Jimmie Rogers welcomed all those who were present, including Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on Sport and Development for Peace, Wilfried Lemke.
“There are over 750 youth representatives here at this conference so you can imagine the time and logistical arrangements that have taken place to get you all here,” he said.
“Honourable Minister Briault, the splendid arrangements, hospitality, leadership and the hard work of your team in the Ministry for Youth and Sport demonstrates the commitment of the Government of New Caledonia to regional cooperation and the advancement of youth in our Pacific region.
“The conference is about you young people taking leadership. You will be learning a lot this week and I encourage you to reflect on what you hear and learn, think about how you can take action in your countries.”
Minister for Youth Jean Claude Briault extended a warm welcome on behalf of the New Caledonia Governement to each and every person present in the arena, before thanking each of the organisations, committees and individuals who made the event possible.
“What an incredibly opportunity to be coming together for the biggest gathering of youth in the Pacific, the youth from the entire continent of Oceania.
“You are going to exchange ideas and information which covers all the big social issues that affect our countries in Oceania. Health, social inclusion, employment, education and sport for development, but overall you will learn how to work together and to appreciate your differences.”
“I wish for you to experience an enriching and interesting programme this week.”
With the conference now officially opened the focus now turns to the interesting programme the organisers have put together which sees a number of high profile speakers offer their expertise on the conference’s main themes – health, education, employment and capacity building and social inclusion.
PYASC runs from 2-6 December before culminating with a meeting of all the Youth Ministers from around the region, to be held at the SPC headquarters in Anse Vata on Saturday.
You can dowload the full conference program in English here
Vous pouvez télécharger la version française du programme de la conférence ici