Report. Behind the scenes at the National Youth Council
Twelve young Monegasques have been working for one out of three projects to improve the lives of children and adolescents in the Principality. Now it’s time to take stock.
It is with great seriousness, and a little nervousness, that the Junior Advisors stand up one by one in the large hemicycle, under the eye of the speakers who supervised them every month for a year, but also of the President of the National Council, Stéphane Valeri, and Marc Mourou, President of the Commission for Education, Youth and Sports. We are then on March 9, and everyone is listening attentively to the twelve young Monegasques presenting their proposals in groups around the following three themes: the environment, education and leisure.
With great professionalism despite their young age, the teenagers, aged twelve to sixteen, rehearse one last time for March 23, the date of the official presentation in the large hemicycle, in front of parents, journalists and members of the National Council.
While waiting for the d-day, broadcast live, the members who accompanied these Junior Advisors give their latest advice. Posture, gaze and voice are carefully scrutinized and corrected if necessary. At the same time, Stéphane Valeri and Marc Mourou comment on the resolutions of the young people and propose modifications so that the texts are as perfect and rendered as possible. Because the stakes are high: these proposals will really be submitted to the vote of the Junior Advisors and could be implemented in the future.
This is, at least, what the supervising team hopes, because this edition of the National Youth Council is the very first. ” We plunged into the voidconfides one of the permanent staff, who accompanied the teenagers in this new experience. This is something that had never been done in Monaco. As it was a commitment of the majority, we had to invent a step-by-step instructions for use and we traced the founding stages over the meetings, with the young people, who were able to move forward very freely. One might have thought from the outside that it was a somewhat “cosmetic” project, but the reality is that these twelve teenagers gradually imposed themselves as a group, with its questions, its expression, its demands. We had, with them, a real work of design, follow-up, research, writing… Today, we can all be proud of the work accomplished. I am very impressed: I saw a group of teenagers become young adults. »
It’s a great experience to live. If I had to do it again, I would do it again without hesitation!
Emma, seize and
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Make his voice heard
And these “young adults”, what do they think? Emma, Mélissa and Julien shared their feedback with us. For them, the results are 100% positive.
” It’s a great experience to livetestifies Emma, seizes years. If I had to do it again, I would do it again without hesitation. ! And for good reason: the young girl has always dreamed of studying political science, in order to one day join the prestigious institution or the United Nations. Involved in the “Environment” group, a theme close to her heart, she says she is very proud to have been able to make her voice heard on such an important subject: ” This experience has made us aware of what it is possible to do or not. Even if on interesting projects, sometimes the budget, the space or the materials are not there. But hope gives life. If we don’t hope, we stagnate. »
Indeed, the group’s proposals are very ambitious: underground waste collection, sorting bins in buildings, end of energy waste, eco-responsible constructions, charter of each good environmental behavior for tourists… There are many ideas. And even if all of them could not be applied immediately, they testify to the seriousness of young people on the subject: “ the survival of humanity depends on the environment, but we destroy it. It is very important to highlight that all of this can be irreversible. I am sixteen years old and I wonder if it is relevant to have children, if it is to offer them a world that is being destroyed adds Emma.
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We can get our friends talking, representing their rights
Melissa, fifteen years old
Representing young Monegasques
Fifteen-year-old Mélissa, for her part, has chosen education. In second class, she recalls the importance of the well-being of students in their school career. ” By being Junior Advisors, we can make our friends, our comrades speak, representing their rights “, she explains. From better coordination of homework, to class trips, through the weight of schoolbags and the fight against school bullying, the group evoked a very wide range of ideas, in order to cover almost all the issues that can meet students on their journey.
” This year made us growadds the schoolgirl. We learned to consider a question from all angles, to seek all the answers from adults, to anticipate and deepen. “And even if the teenager does not see herself embracing a future political career, she has discovered, thanks to this experience, a real taste for speaking out:” It will be very useful for my relationship and my future job. »
The biggest challenge was learning to manage my stress. The sessions in a large hemicycle helped me a lot
Julien, fifteen years old
Fifteen-year-old Julien also comes out grown up from this first edition: “ The biggest challenge was learning to manage my stress. The sessions in a large hemicycle helped me a lot, it was a unique experience ! Open to the idea of one day occupying a seat in the National Council, this young second-year student focused on the theme of leisure. A choice that he explains very simply: as a youngster in Monaco, he there aren’t that many activities, sometimes you get a little bored. »
His group has also decided to propose two very concrete and large-scale projects: an inflatable water park that respects the seabed and a roller skating rink with theme evenings, dancing and sliding rings. Projects initiated by Stéphane Valeri, who sees in them the fastest way to illustrate the work carried out by this National Youth Council.
For Julien, the day this project took shape on paper remains etched in his memory. Emma, she remembers with emotion her first entry into the large hemicycle. Mélissa, meanwhile, remembers her first meeting with the other Junior Advisors and is proud of how far she has come since.
So many striking memories that these three budding National Councilors keep preciously, as the big day approaches when they could finally present the fruit of their labor.