The Women’s Parliamentary Caucus of the National Assembly (WPC) in collaboration with the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) conducted a 3-hour interactive session with the youth, especially young girls yesterday afternoon. This activity was held in the National Assembly’s lobby and involved 56 participants of previous Youth Assemblies and eight secondary Schools, namely; Plaisance, International School of Seychelles, Mont Fleuri , English River, Belonie, Independent School and Perseverance.
The activity was planned to coincide with the International Day of Democracy which is commemorated every 15th September. Apart from the Women’s Caucus, the Speaker, Hon. Roger Mancienne, the Deputy Speaker, Hon Gervais Henrie, the Leader of Government Business, Hon. Bernard Georges, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Sebastien Pillay, the Clerk to the Assembly, Mrs. Tania Isaac and Deputy Clerk, Ms. Alexandria Faure were also present.
The presentations were targeted around the role of Women MPs, Leadership and Community Engagement and participants were provided with plenty of time to ask questions.
On the Statistics and role of Women as Members of Parliament, Hon. Regina Esparon, the Chairperson of the WPC, mostly highlighted the role of the Caucus, nationally and internationally. An example of a leading country that has many women parliamentarians was Rwanda, with 36% of its parliament made up of women as compared to Seychelles, which is currently at 22.86%. Also, to note that Rwanda’s Speaker and Deputy Speaker are also female.
The Speaker had the privilege to talk about the important leadership role of parliamentarians. Speaker Mancienne stated that “there is no one word to describe or explain the word leadership…someone can be a leader from wherever there are and not only by becoming an MP”
Examples were given and among them were doctors, secretaries and teachers. The Speaker further encouraged the youths to start from where they are right now by doing the best they can in whatever they feel they are good at and to keep working at it.
In her capacity as Vice Chairperson of the WPC, Hon. Audrey Vidot gave the youth an overview on the life of a parliamentarian and what it entails to become a Member of Parliament. She spoke at length about how to engage with the community, the people and be up to date with what is happening so that concerns and issues of the community can be put forward. Hon. Vidot further highlighted that bringing issues forward can be done in different ways, through a Motion, Questions and a Private Members Bill. She also stated that “the first step to becoming an MP is by engaging and knowing your people as they will be the ones electing you.”
The event was very informative and educational with a lot of questions from the youth directed at the Members. They were eager to learn more about the role and purposes of having different Committees, how women and girls can be further engaged in decision making and the importance of having women in politics.
All Members present interacted with the dynamic group by answering their questions, clarifying their doubts and also by sharing their own personal experiences and their political journeys. The outgoing French Ambassador, H.E Mr. Dominique Mas also addressed the young people, providing them with a message to ensure they preserve and protect democracy. The session was concluded by a vote of thanks from Ms. Diaz from SNYA.
The Chairperson of the WPC, Hon. Regina Esparon stated that this will not be the end of the Caucus’s work with the youth and that they will keep up the engagement to empower young women to become leaders.
Members of the WPC presents were Hon. Audrey Vidot as the Vice Chairperson, Hon. Doyace Porice, Hon Sylvanne Lemiel and Hon. Deshiela Bastienne.
