The combination of educational underdevelopment and a low-growth economic environment is making it increasingly difficult for young people in the Pacific Island nations to find employment. As a result, the incidence of delinquency among Islander youth is on the rise. This project represents an effort to reverse this trend through the establishment of a region-wide youth organization to foster young leaders in the region and engage in cooperative tie-ups and activities with youth organizations in other parts of the world, particularly Asia.
The plan to establish the Pacific Youth Council (PYC), in association with the Asia Youth Council (AYC), was approved at the 4th Pacific Youth Conference held in the Cook Islands in 1994, in which the AYC also took part. In 1995, a preparatory committee, including guest advisors from the AYC, was organized in Fiji, and the charter, structure and program of the PYC were drafted. In collaboration with concerned parties from various countries, the members of the provisional PYC secretariat then refined the charter and other details, and in 1996, the second year of this project, the PYC was officially established. In order to strengthen the PYC's ties with youth organizations in Asia, members of the provisional PYC secretariat took part in next annual general assembly of the AYC, using the opportunity to raise awareness about the PYC's establishment and to discuss the potential for future joint projects.
The establishment of the PYC was first proposed at the Regional Conference for Pacific Youth held in Fiji in 1975. Two decades later, that goal has been attained through a grant from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. With that fundamental hurdle cleared, the new organization is now focused on developing a practical program of activities while continuing to strengthen its ties with counterpart groups in Asia. Now that the three-year SPF grant has come to an end, the key challenge for the PYC, the SPC and other related organizations is to ensure that the new organization can continue under its own steam. Many grant-making organizations maintain a special interest in youth affairs, and it is hoped that in the future the PYC will be able to benefit from the assistance of such organizations as the Commonwealth Youth Program and relevant bodies within the United Nations.