The first UNICEF  Regional Ambassador for the Pacific, Merewalesi (Mere) Nailatikau, is in New Zealand for a series of events to put the spotlight on issues affecting young people in the Pacific Islands. 

As well as talking to young New Zealanders at the UNICEF NZ Youth Congress, Mere  will be appearing in her only public event, ‘Our Pacific, Our Future’, at Auckland University’s Fale Pasifika on Monday July 18.

As Pacific leaders prepare to gather in Auckland this September for the Pacific Islands Forum, this is an ideal opportunity to find out why greater attention must be given to young people’s futures in the region.

UNICEF Ambassador Mere will be joined by Sainmere Veitata, co-chair of the University of the South Pacific’s Econesian Society. The event’s focus will be on issues affecting the Pacific, such as climate change and child poverty, and why the concerns of younger people should be taken seriously by decision makers.  

Suva based Mere (26), a former Miss South Pacific, has been championing these issues, since first becoming involved with UNICEF at the age of 17. As someone who has grown up with first-hand experience of these issues in the Pacific, Mere is passionate about making a difference:“Local people are having to adapt and to come up with ways of coping with life in an environment where the land is being eroded, food stocks are declining, the soil fertility is being reduced and the integrity of underground water sources is becoming questionable.”

Mere has visited settlement areas in Fiji where rising sea levels have impacted on local communities’ marine based way of life. She explains, “It’s increasingly difficult to find fish. Plus the shoreline has eroded. Local people are having to find new ways to make a living – in one settlement I was part of a group of youth representatives who helped the villagers plant mangroves along the shoreline, fighting nature with nature if you like! We planted around 200 on that one day, but the community have to now manage this long-term using the help of local organisations.”

Mere is also concerned about child poverty, “Poverty is a big issue in the Pacific. It means that some children are disadvantaged from the get-go and this affects a child’s access to education. Primary school education is free but only if a child has gone to kindergarten. It is especially hard for parents in rural areas where children may have to travel a distance to get to school. Even if education is free the quality of teaching and learning resources may not be up to par, especially in disadvantaged communities.”

“If we want a better tomorrow, we have got to start working for it today,” Mere stresses. “Young people often ask me why they should care about issues like climate change and I tell them that as young people we are the ones who should care. The question really is: how can we not care?”

Sarah Morris, International Advocacy Manager at UNICEF NZ, agrees, “With more than half of the population in the Pacific under the age of 24, young people will live with the consequences of the decisions made by today’s leaders.”

“As host of the upcoming Pacific Island Leaders Forum this September, there’s no better time to think about the opportunity New Zealand has to make a difference for young people in the Pacific. ‘Our Pacific, Our Future’ is a unique opportunity to hear first-hand from two impressive speakers who have lived and breathed the issues they are discussing.”

Mere concludes, “There is a natural connection between New Zealand and the Pacific. We have a shared history and are part of the same region. The Pacific needs the support of New Zealand. Whilst New Zealand is the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum it has an opportunity to effect real change in the issues facing our youth, for the benefit of everyone in the region.”

‘Our Pacific, Our Future’ is a free event being held at 6pm on the 18 July at Fale Pasifika, Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Auckland, 20 Wynyard Street.