Eight young, emerging filmmakers and poets from the Pacific region benefited from a virtual capacity building training on film making and digital activism tools held on Tuesday.
Facilitated by the 350 Pacific, the workshop introduced participants to the simple and accessible video/filmmaking tools available that would enhance their capacity to produce more videos.
It also covered digital activism tools, skills and opportunities available that could further assist youth to advocate for their issues in the digital spaces through videos, arts and poetry.
“The sessions are very informative and it kind of boost my creativity. I learnt so much,” Fiada Kede, 26 years old from PNG.
Ratu Epineri Vuruna, 20, Fiji also stated that the “workshop has motivate me to become a better creative storyteller in the future.”
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dr Filimon Manoni said for our Blue Pacific region climate change is no longer an issue of debate.
“It is a matter of survival and we need to Act now for our children, for our grandchildren, for all of humanity and for our one and only Planet.
“With at least half of our region’s population under the age of 25, the voice of our youth is one that is so crucial, and youth play a critical role as equal partners in advocating and finding solutions for climate change and disasters. With such capacity building opportunities, we hope our young people’s skills will be enhanced to support our collective climate advocacy and action in securing a resilient future,” Dr Manoni said.
He emphasised that climate advocacy is not the responsibility of political leadership only.
“Each of us has a moral duty and it’s our shared responsibility as citizens of this Blue Pacific – and through engaging in this very activity, you are contributing to strengthening our regional advocacy as a whole.
As we approach COP26, I want to encourage you all to continue sharing your knowledge, talents and voice in our call for urgent climate actions and the shared interest in building the resilience of our region,” he said.
This workshop was part of the recent Pacific Resilience Partnership youth competition under the theme “Our Actions Now – Our Future, Our Resilience” which was supported by the Pacific Resilience Partnership, British High Commission to Fiji and the Pacific Islands Forum.
This story was published at Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) on 13 October 2021, reposted via PACNEWS.
