20 young women from across the country, have been given the opportunity to go through a week long Pilot Program on Young Women Political Boot Camp, provided for by the Pacific Institute of Governance & Leadership (PILAG).
The goals of the program are to build and nurture political interest, enhancing knowledge of the political, electoral and legislative process, networking for development collaboration, empower passion in response to gender disparity and embracing leadership virtues in making change in the political space.
Team Leader for the Young Women Political Boot Camp for PILAG, Nellie Hamura Oa said this program is targeting 18–30-year-old women.
“We received an overwhelming response from across the country, with over 300 applications. And from the 300, we selected 20 women.”
The 20 selected for the Young Women Political Boot Camp, applied via a questionnaire provided for by PILAG with their responses going through a stringent process before they were informed of their successful applications.
Ms. Nellie said that since the boot camp is a pilot program, they can only cater for 20 young women for now.
“We want to transfer knowledge, to inspire these young women and boost their confidence and prepare them to participate in the political space.”
She explained that they have a number of guest facilitators who will run through different aspects of political leadership, including community mobilization as well as using art as a creative means to communicate.
“At the end of the week, we will have a gallery walk through, where we will showcase the work that the participants have done over this past week. The 20 young women will also attend a parliament session this week for exposure to a politics.”
The Young Women Political Boot Camp is being carried out in partnership with UN Women; an ongoing partnership since 2021, with the backing of donors in the Australian & New Zealand Governments.
With the continued support from international donor agencies, business houses and the government, PILAG is hopeful that this pilot program can be turned into an annual boot camp.