Thirteen of the countries attending the conference had the opportunity earlier this afternoon to spend ten minutes presenting the projects they have developed and refined over the past five days.
The eight different prizes had certain criteria attached with the Prix du gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Caledonie being available only to New Caledonia projects, the SPC Award available only to Non-Communicable Diseases projects from any country, excluding Australia and New Zealand while the PYASC Award and New Caledonia Awards could go to a Sport for Development project from any country.
The two major New Caledonia prizes, in which only the host countries projects were eligible, went to the cities of Noumea and Mont Dore.
The Mont Dore Beach Games will run over four weeks of the summer holidays, three days a week. The initiative aims to bring together all of the young people in the wider suburb. The goal is to accept each other’s differences and leave everyone with a strong feeling of inclusion.
Noumea was represented by the Association Kaledoaction, which based its project on the conference theme of Education. The proposal will see youth invited to take part in a number of different workshops such as graffiti art, dance and slam in an effort to inspire them to learn, while having fun. The well-organised presentation was a crowd favourite.
The two New Caledonia Government prizes, which were open to all countries, were eventually awarded to two well thought through prizes from the local delegations of Paita and Province Nord.
Both projects addressed social inclusion with the group from the north focusing on people with disabilities through their Handicappable idea which aims to chance the way people look at people with disabilities – to look further than what you see at first sight. Paita’s project is aimed at integrating young people into society and giving them a sense of worth.
The PYASC Award went to the delegation from New Zealand who focused on the theme of social inclusion. The objective is to raise and develop empathy and awareness of physical and intellectual disability. The project will be launched in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Two UNICEF Awards were handed out, with Samoa and Solomon Islands taking the honours.
Samoa’s “Silence” project will launch a sport event in the next 12 months to raise public awareness of mental illness and build resilience.
Solomon Islands developed Youth Substance Striker – Kicking the Habit by Kicking Goals. It aims to reduce the number of people abusing drugs and alcohol which is a major problem throughout the country, but in the capital of Honiara, where the project will be piloted, especially.
The final prize of the evening, the SPC Award, was presented to Tahiti for their Health themed programme No te Ora, ‘a Ha’uti ‘Ana’e, or For our Life, Let’s Play. The programme will tackle Non-Communicable Diseases – a major issue affecting the majority of the island nation’s population in one way or another.
All of the award winners received $3,000 in prize money that will go towards further development and implementation of the projects that were presented at PYASC.
The jury was comprised of Isabelle Austin of UNICEF, Sophie Beauvais of ASOP and Viliami Puloka of the SPC, with voting assessed by Edward Bernard of the ILO.
The official closing of the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference 2013 followed the awards ceremony and was a chance for the organising committee to thank each and every one of the people who helped to make the conference a success.
“New Caledonia, thanks for making this happen in your country,” SPC Director General Jimmie Rogers said.
“To the Minister, Heads of Delegations of all the Pacific Islands countries and territories, it’s wonderful to have you here.
“Our young people here behind and all around you – you should be proud of.
“Because for the past week they’ve transformed not only themselves into instruments of change, but they have the potential to transform their communities, their countries and our region into one.
“To the youth here tonight, you are our future. Shape our countries, be instruments of change, because that is what we’re here for this week and I’m very happy that the Ministers are here to witness it.”

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