Whāraurau to Host Youth Leadership Symposium 2022
4 October 2022
Whāraurau is hosting the Youth Leadership Symposium 2022, a full-day youth-powerful hui that brings together over 100 passionate young leaders between the ages of 16 and 30 years old from across the nation to build a declaration on youth wellbeing. We have partnered with 298 Youth Health, ILead Disability, Inside Out, Odyssey House, Purapura Whetu, VOYCE Whakarongo Mai and Youthline Central South Island to make this day possible.
The declaration our young people develop during the Youth Leadership Symposium 2022 will be presented to the Australasia/Pacific Islands Regional Hub Network Meeting in Christchurch, on Wednesday 26th of October. This meeting brings together mental health sector leaders and is part of the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership Exchange Network Meeting, with other hubs in North America and Europe meeting on the same day.
The aim of the Youth Leadership Symposium is to hold space for youth leaders to connect, learn and problem solve and to provide a list of tangible actions and initiatives that NGOs, government agencies and organisations can implement to further improve the state of youth wellbeing both nationally and internationally,” says Whāraurau Youth Advisor Vira Paky.
The event is open to young people from around the Pacific region and registration is available here: tinyurl.com/wharaurau-yls
“We’d like to emphasise that attendees do not need to have lived experience of mental distress or accessing mental health services to participate,” says Romy Lee, Youth Advisory and Peer Workforce Development Lead at Whāraurau. “We ask attendees to explain their relationship to youth wellbeing whether that be through tertiary studies, professional experience, community work, volunteering or other means. Our focus is to have passionate and engaged young people in attendance.
Topics of the symposium will include education, employment, equity, government assistance, healthcare governance, social media and technology, hauora, identity, society, and whānau – all through the prism of youth wellbeing.