On Saturday, 7th March, 300 of our youth, between the ages of 14 and 26, gathered for the National Scout Youth Forum at the Archbishops’ Seminary in Rabat. From workshops to advocacy to partaking in a democratic election, our youth were kept busy!
The Last NSYF was held in 2018, so after an eight-year long hiatus once again our youth are at the heart of our evolution in scouting. Having 300 members and leaders in assembly, ensured that this empowerment was not merely symbolic. This large group provided a broad-based platform where diverse perspectives from across the association`s youth can directly influence our national direction. The youth participated in four workshops:
- Technology in Scouting
- Inclusion and Diversity
- Dotmocracy
- Group Discussion sessions
Apart from workshops to gather our youth’s ideas an election was held in order to re-instate the National Scout Youth Council (NSYC). With three members from each district and two members from Gozo, in total the NSYC has eleven members on board. The National Scout Youth Council was established with a fundamental purpose: “to promote youth involvement and empowerment” (Bye-Law 09, Section 1.1). Their aim is to be the voices of scouting youth both within the organisation and beyond. Two members will join the National Scout Council, and another two will join another local National Youth Council. Aiming to update protocols, and uplifting scouting youth’s voices within and beyond the organisation.
In total 25 candidates submitted their intention to join the NSYC. Each candidate had two minutes to pitch to their districts their goals and vision if they were to be elected. Well done to each and every candidate for dedicating your time and effort for running for NSYC! We hope to continue hearing all of your voices in the upcoming years.
At the end of the event the new NSYC was announced (seen left to right in the pictures)
Representing Gozo, we have Nina Debono from Xgħara and Mattia Cassar from Victoria.
Representing the North District we have Abigail Caruana from San Gwann, Matteo Farrugia from Stella Maris College and Samuel Vella from Mosta.
Representing the Central District we have, Matthew Buhagiar from Seminary group, Erika Vella from Rabat and Noella Zarb from Żebbuġ.
Representing the South District, we have Joy Lola Abela from Cospicua, Andrew Lombardo from Fgura and Dale Piscopo from Cospicua.
On the other hand, this would not have been possible without our youth mentors who ran the workshops, the voting overseers, candidates and of course the youth who attended! Additionally, a special Thank you goes to the Archbishop`s Seminary School for allowing us to host our event in their school, making this event possible!
We wish our new NSYC the best of luck for their upcoming term, may it be filled with challenges to learn from, memories to cherish, and further uplift our youth within the organisation!