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 past few days, we have been profiling the four candidates who have been nominated. The final candidate to be profiled is:

Noelyn Wagapu (Solomon Islands)

Noelyn Wagapu is the Chair of the South Pacific Regional Youth Caucus. She is keen to learn more about youth issues and to start contributing to changes in the Pacific region.

Noelyn was a full-time radio broadcaster on the national radio station, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), for five years until July 2010. She is involved in a radio drama group called Dance with the Devil, which raises awareness about issues affecting young people in Solomon Islands through radio and stage plays.

She has also helped make awareness DVDs about domestic violence against women and girls and about HIV/AIDS. In 2008, she was awarded a certificate by the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands for assisting police with public education safety issues through radio.

The Board and Management of the SIBC also awarded her a certificate of appreciation for the efforts and professionalism demonstrated in the compilation of the programmes The 100 Days Buildup to the Country’s Independence.

In 2009, she was awarded the Young Female Solomon Islander of the Year Award for outstanding leadership and achievements in community development. In March 2010 she was part of the Solomon Islands delegation which attended the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference in Manukau, New Zealand. Noelyn also participated in the Pan-Commonwealth Mid-Term Review Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was part of the Nkabom 2010 Commonwealth Leadership Programme in Rwanda.

Noelyn studied radio broadcasting in New Zealand and completed Foundation Studies at the University of the South Pacific. She represented Solomon Islands in the Oceania Women’s Football World Cup Qualifier in 2004 and 2007.

She is passionate about youth and believes that they are the primary enablers of social change due to their creativity, openness to new and different experiences as well as their ability to move beyond geographical and time restrictions. She believes that young people have the power to look beyond old social divisions to forge a strong sense of nationhood and unity.

Noelyn believes that through communication young people can reach out and connect, listen, observe and respond with respect. She would like to set up a radio station for young people as a resource to communicate with each other and offer support.