Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus leadership elections

Next month in Chandigarh, India, around 50 youth representatives from all over the Commonwealth will meet to elect a new chair and vice-chair for the Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus.

Four candidates from the Pacific region are standing for election to fill both leadership positions, which are currently vacant. The newly-elected chair and vice-chair will serve for two years and the appointments rotate regionally.

Over the next few days, we will be profiling the four candidates who have been nominated:

Rebecca Solomon (Vanuatu)

Rebecca Solomon, the RYC member for Vanuatu, is the part-time Administrator for the Vanuatu National Youth Council. Before that she was involved as a volunteer helping the Council with logistics, communicating with youth leaders and attending training with the president. She was part of Oxfam's International Youth Partners programme from 2007 to 2010 and has also been selected as a Mentor and Motivator for Vanuatu for the Oxfam International Youth Partners programme from 2010 to 2013.

Rebecca has been an activist for six years. In 2004 she joined Youth Challenge Vanuatu engaging in volunteer community work. Through this, she has gained knowledge and training in issues such as mental health, custom identity, research methods, literacy, gender and culture, small business, development, governance, activism, human rights, child rights and life skills.

Rebecca attended a gender and culture workshop in South Africa, represented Vanuatu in the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Malaysia and attended Oxfam's International Youth Partnership programme in Australia. She also attended a peace-building workshop in Rwanda and Oxfam’s Mentor and Motivator training in Hong Kong.

She participated in a forum in Cambodia under UNICEF about children and young people’s rights. She was a Youth Challenger in the Youth Challenge International programme in Panama and was involved with the Vanuatu Young People's Project life skills training. Rebecca was a key player in the setting up of the Port Vila Youth Council, co-facilitating the workshops that led to its formation.

Rebecca wants to become a community worker in Vanuatu.

She would like to see all young people being recognised by leaders in their communities and countries. Rebecca hopes that young people will also realise the talents and skills they have and use them to make a change to their small corner of the world.

Key Links:

• Our work: Commonwealth Youth Programme
• Country Profile: Vanuatu