Youth Leadership in Fiji and Solomon Islands: Creating Opportunities for Civic Engagement

Craney, Aidan

doi:10.22459/py.2019.06

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For example, in Bareho the youth secretary is 48 years of age, in Dadala the youth group leader is 46 years of age, and in Hovi the youth representative on the WC is 43 years old. Youth being represented by people who are not young is another form of marginalization, and has been referred to as “structural minimisation” (Craney, 2019).…”

Section: Community Water Management and Social Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities with social inclusion and community‐based water management in Solomon Islands

Love

Beal

Gonzalez

et al. 2022

Development Policy Review

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Motivation: Rural water services are poor in Pacific Island countries (PICs); ineffective water management (WM) is one of the key reasons. Greater social inclusion in WM groups is a key goal of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, but there is a lack of data on the make-up of WM groups and what appropriate and effective inclusivity in WM looks like in the region. Purpose: This article contributes to filling these gaps by examining national community WM policy and the attributes and activities of rural WM groups, in practice, in villages across Solomon Islands. The purpose is to influence government policy and guidance relating to the structure and functionality of rural WM groups. Methods and approach: Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from eight rural communities in Solomon Islands between 2018 and 2020 by a team of international and local Solomon Islander researchers. Detailed data from six formalized WM groups along with an analysis of national policy and rural WM guidelines are used to identify strengths and weaknesses in current WM policy and approaches. Findings: WM group inclusivity has improved with regard to women, but they still often remain excluded from decision-making. Young people are essential to the ongoing operation of water systems yet were rarely formal members of water committees. Intra-village levels of social cohesion were stronger than village-wide levels. Most water committees had collapsed in the past, lacked institutional sustainability, and failed community expectations. Factors informing this included the high mean age of committee members, multiple obligations of executives, and often poor intra-village social and geographical representation. Policy implications: Villages are not homogenous communities, but include many smaller social units-tribes, extended families, different faith groups-that tend to have stronger social cohesion than "villagewide" groups or committees. Moreover, many of these groupings are often socio-spatially demarcated in formalized "zones/areas" of a village. This needs to be reflected in WM group membership and national policy guidelines. At these levels, social cohesion, collective

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Section: Community Water Management and Social Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges and opportunities with social inclusion and community‐based water management in Solomon Islands

Love

Beal

Gonzalez

et al. 2022

Development Policy Review

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“…There is every possibility that the return to democracy that occurred in 2014 will result in deeper civic engagement from Fijian youth who have a greater appreciation of their abilities to participate in the political process. Conversely, the lack of democracy in their formal years coupled with social norms which minimise youth engagement in formal and informal civil discourse and decision‐making processes in Oceania (Vakaoti, 2013; Scott‐Parker and Kumar, 2018; Craney, 2019) may have entrenched a sense of apathy to governance issues within the majority of the youth population.…”

Section: The Role Of Youth In Pacific Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The structural fault lines creating and perpetuating youth disenfranchisement are well known globally. Factors such as underemployment, ineffective education systems, inequality across urban, peri‐urban and rural divides and structural minimisation (Ware, 2004; Urdal, 2006; Alwazir, 2016; Yarwood, 2016; Sukarieh and Tannock, 2018; Craney, 2019) combine to limit the capacities of, and opportunities for, young people and their self‐actualisation. If these issues are not addressed the future for Pacific youth and the greater well‐being of communities throughout the region appear to be bleak.…”

Section: Structural Issues Leading To Youth Disenfranchisementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence from Fiji and Solomon Islands shows that even when structures exclude active youth civic participation a cohort of engaged young citizens will remain civically engaged (Vakaoti, 2013; Craney, 2019). As has been demonstrated through the acts of unrest across Oceania in recent decades, Pacific youth as a broader collective are not so fixed in their social positions that they will respond to opportunity deficits with perpetual passivity.…”

Section: Structural Issues Leading To Youth Disenfranchisementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fault lines for unrest in the Pacific: Youth, livelihoods and land rights in driving and mitigating conflict

Craney¹

2021

Asia Pacific Viewpoint

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Instances of civil unrest and disorder have pockmarked the mainly peaceful functioning of multiple Pacific states in recent decades. This paper examines factors which can be seen as fault lines for predicting and mitigating such unrest, with a particular focus on Fiji and Solomon Islands. Drawing on data collected through interviews with youth advocates and activists, it becomes clear that the common justification of ‘ethnic tensions’ for past unrest and fears of future unrest being necessitated by a ‘youth bulge’ oversimplifies the complexity of factors that lead to disorder. Issues of land rights, uncertain livelihood futures and public perceptions of inequality provide more salient framings for understanding why citizens engage in unrest. Indeed, it is perceptions of injustice and inequality which may well prove to be the greater indicator of the likelihood of any future destabilisation.

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“…Extracts of some of the data and discussion in this book have previously been published elsewhere. This includes chapters in Helen Lee's edited volume Pacific Youth: Local and Global Futures (see Lee and Craney 2019;Craney 2019) and articles in Asia Pacific Viewpoint (Craney 2021a) and The Contemporary Pacific (Craney 2021b).…”

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confidence: 99%

Youth in Fiji and Solomon Islands: Livelihoods, Leadership and Civic Engagement

Craney¹

2022

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YOUTH IN FIJI AND SOLOMON ISLANDSxiv essentialisation of each issue and the failure of interventions to go beyond paper commitments. This was how the seeds were planted for my decision to formally research youth livelihoods, leadership and civic engagement in Oceania. It was also where I first began to form my conceptual framework for understanding these issues through a 'holistic livelihoods' approach and to develop the contention that young Pacific peoples' lives are marked by their 'structural minimisation'-two concepts that I discuss further in the book proper.1 Also known as Fiji Baat (Willans and Prasad 2021).

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Youth Leadership in Fiji and Solomon Islands: Creating Opportunities for Civic Engagement

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Challenges and opportunities with social inclusion and community‐based water management in Solomon Islands

Challenges and opportunities with social inclusion and community‐based water management in Solomon Islands

Fault lines for unrest in the Pacific: Youth, livelihoods and land rights in driving and mitigating conflict

Youth in Fiji and Solomon Islands: Livelihoods, Leadership and Civic Engagement

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