Matthieu Cognac, a keynote speaker who also led a number of workshops, was in attendance at December’s Pacific Youth and Sports Conference in New Caledonia, providing expertise as a Youth Employment Specialist on behalf of the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
As a result of his presence, Cognac and the ILO were introduced to OFC’s Just Play programme and have identified the cross-cutting impact the programme is having on youth employment.
OFC head of social responsibility and international relations Franck Castillo says Just Play was created with three main objectives in mind – to provide for children with disabilities, to create awareness of non-communicable diseases and their impact on the Pacific community and promote gender equality.
“What the ILO has identified is the cross-cutting impact of our programme on communities and individuals,” Castillo says.
“Just Play has contributed to improved school attendance and better results among the children taking part. It wasn’t an initial objective during the setting-up of the programme, but a positive side-effect which is starting to emerge is the impact on employability which the ILO has identified.”
Cognac talks about “soft skills” which are qualities that can be attributed to a person’s personality such as hard-working, creative, disciplined, pro-active, responsible, leaders, respectful and energetic.
He says employer often refrain from hiring young people based on their apparent lack of soft skills as opposed to their lack of experience.
“Understanding how these soft skills that can be developed through sports – such as ethics, attitudes and communication – are relevant to the world of work, provides an interesting perspective on youth employability,” he says.
“In the Pacific region, where sports play a very important role in life and where youth unemployment is rife, linking these two issues makes total sense and Just Play is one of a number of programmes doing this successfully.
“Attracting young people to a football or rugby field can be a powerful way of enhancing their confidence and teaching them new skills. While this will not the more traditional methods of delivering training, it does offer us the chance to develop innovative youth employment programmes,” Cognac says.
Castillo says the cross-cutting impact is most clearly identified in the Just Play programme when discussing the future employment value of its volunteers – many of whom are students.
“By being involved in courses as volunteers in Just Play, young people acquire transferable skills that make them more employable,” he says.
“It is nice recognition from the ILO who were able to see exactly what we have done and are doing with Just Play during the conference.”

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