The Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, together with UNICEF, Youth Challenge Vanuatu, and the Government of Japan, launched a new mobile-based communication tool called U-Report.
This tool will enable youth to participate in national planning and decision making on important issues that impact their future, such as health services, education, and climate change.
Director of the Department of Youth Development and Sports, Henry Tavoa said, “The National Youth Development Policy has a vision of empowered Vanuatu youth to fully realise their potential and positively contribute to the overall development of Vanuatu”. He added, “In order to do this, we must create a space for youth voices to be heard and U-Report is an avenue for this. Forty percent of the Vanuatu population comprises youth aged 10-30 and this platform will enable their voices to be heard”.
U-Report is a free and confidential messaging tool, which uses SMS on local Vodafone and Digicel networks to engage youth through quick surveys or polls on issues that matter. It works by gathering opinions and information from young people when they respond to polls. The findings are shared with communities and policy makers who make decisions that affect young people. With the current outbreak in Vanuatu, the first polls focus on COVID-19-related topics including stigma and adolescent vaccination amongst others.
“We are also proud that Japan was able to support the project that will lead to the future,” stated Chiba Hirohisa, Ambassador of Japan. “With U-Report, you can get involved in activities that make a difference for the better in your community. You may look at local problems, think about how to solve them, and then implement them through a process of trial and error. This series of efforts will change your community for the better and, in turn, the country. Japan hopes to continue its support for the young people who will develop Vanuatu's future”, he added.
With U-Report launching in Vanuatu today, there are now more than 100 countries where U-Report is active, and over 22 million registered U-Reporters all over the world.
“This programme gives us the opportunity to reach out to and engage with the most disadvantaged and marginalized youth throughout Vanuatu, including young people with disability and single mothers,” said Director of Youth Challenge Vanuatu, Noel Steven. “Youth can sit behind their phones and Facebook messenger to confidently raise their voices on key issues that matter to them”.
Photo Caption: Officials from the MYSD, with representatives of UNICEF, Japanese Embassy cut the cake to mark the historic launching of U-Report in Vanuatu.