While there is increasing recognition of the primacy of youth as a development issue across Melanesia surprisingly little focussed attention has been paid to young people as a collective, including within the literature. This panel proposes to examine contemporary youth development efforts focusing on Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. State-youth interactions and participation will be assessed across the national, sub-national and local levels. The panel will explore the state-youth relationship, looking at how young people experience government and politics, the role that they play in decision-making and where entry-points for greater youth engagement might exist in formal and informal governance systems.

Speakers:Dan Evans (Chair), PhD Candidate, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU

Anouk Ride, Solomon Islands-based researcher and writer

Barbra Thomas, PNG Projects Coordinator, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University