Youth Co:Lab issues certificate

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 13 July 2018, 12:00AM

Two promising young entrepreneurs received certificates of completion yesterday after participating in the inaugural U.N. Youth Co:Lab workshop held in Samoa.

Eighteen-year-old Filitino Iosefa and 16-year-old Justin Parker Junior were the youngest participants in the event, which is part of a regional initiative across the Asia-Pacific region, that strives to empower youth to lead social change in their communities – while accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals through social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Speaking to Samoa Observer, Filitino and Justin described the workshop as an eye-opener which will enable them to get new ideas on how to grow their business.

Filitino’s idea centered around meeting one of the Sustainable Development Goals (S.D.G.), which is how he came up with the idea of addressing water quality and improving access. 

“My idea was to do something about Samoa water quality and to find an easier way to access water and at the same time providing jobs for people. I really believe in the U.N and their sustainable goals for developing countries and how they motivate people to be creative and come up with innovate ways to support those goals.”

Justin, on the other hand, was surprised that the event attracted participants from all kinds of age groups. He said the decision to participate was made at the eleventh hour and it was his love for music that enabled him to pitch the idea of creating a space for youth to brainstorm, create and produce their own music. 

“I was surprised that I was the youngest in the group. I thought that when they said youth, I would be seeing people my own age but when I got there, there were people with ideas and businesses already. That’s when I realized I had to be serious about this. I currently work at Radio Polynesia part time so that’s where the idea came from since I love being around music and I’m very open minded to all kinds of music genres,” he added.

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 13 July 2018, 12:00AM

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