Representing the UN at the Hibiscus festival

The ILO, as chair of the United Nations Working Group on Youth in the Pacific, collaborated with the Miss Hibiscus competition in Fiji to highlight UN’s work for youth in the Pacific region.

News | 01 August 2012
In August the ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries, as chair of the United Nations Working Group on Youth in the Pacific, collaborated with the Miss Hibiscus competition in Fiji to highlight UN’s work for youth in the Pacific region. The collaboration was part of a range of activities implemented to celebrate the International Youth Day on 18 August. The Hibiscus Festival is one of the biggest of its kind in the Pacific and has been organized annually for more than 50 years, and the Miss Hibiscus competition is a well-known part of the festival which is broadcasted across the region to 16 countries.

The UN Working Group, as a sponsor, was in particular responsible for boosting the thematic substance to the research component of the competition. 15 talented young women from Fiji were each given a question which they prepared a presentation for. The questions, provided by the UN Agencies in the working group, included themes such as environmental concerns, non-communicable diseases, good governance, violence against women and youth unemployment. The contestants were also mentored by representatives of the UN Agencies. ILO mentored two participants, including ms Drue Slatter, who eventually won both the research component and the whole competition to become Miss Hibiscus 2012.

ILO, representing the UN Working Group, had the honour of addressing the participants and the audience during two occasions. First, Ms Line Begby gave a speech during the research component, highlighting the importance of ensuring that young women have access to the same rights and opportunities as young men, both in education and job opportunities. Then, at the televised public hearing a few days later, director of ILO Suva, Mr David Lamotte, gave a speech acknowledging youth as the most important asset for the region’s development.

Through the collaboration with the Hibiscus Festival the UN got the opportunity to show itself as a relevant and engaged partner in the Pacific region.