Transcript
Those at the Ola Fou gathering included young people from Vanuatu, Tonga, Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
Ola Fou aims to empower young Pacific leaders to work for positive change in their communities.
Ola Fou's manager in Fiji Sereki Korocowiri, says that youth culture in the Pacific is in a state of change.
"So we have moved from a very communal, culturally-based structured society into a more globalised world. And the leaders that people are living under at the moment are from the older generation where the shift to globalisation hasn't been that fast."
Sereki Korocowiri says while young people make up a large proportion of the Pacific population, they are often ignored in decision making.
"Strangely what we've seen with young people is they are wanting to contribute more. They have the energy, one, and now because they're some of them educated they're open to new things."
Mr Korocowiri says that it is important for the future of the Pacific that young people's voices are heard.
"Young people are seen, but not heard. They're not being consulted on the decisions that will actually affect their future. If we can create young people who are responsible, I think we are creating a very safe space for the Pacific Islands."
Ola Fou team leader in the Solomon Islands Elisha Paza Pitanoe says that youth issues in the Pacific are complex.
He says unemployment and substance abuse are pressing issues but the bigger issue is how to instil a sense of pride in young people.
"The main issue that is affecting youth and also something Ola fou is trying to address is the area of being able to be aware of their self-worth, that they are an asset to their families, that they are an asset to their communities and that they positively can contribute something positive back to their communities I guess."
Mr Pitanoe says that, in the Solomons, the biggest challenge is dealing with young people who have moved from traditional village settings to informal urban areas, known as settlements.
"You have the structure of leadership and the structure within the church that provides leadership in the villages, but when you talk about settlements it is more unstructured. Because settlements actually gather together or accommodate people from different islands, different backgrounds, different races, different cultures."
Mr Pitanoe says those who gathered in Wellington can take what they've learnt back home to motivate their peers.
"We believe they can change and we also believe that they have the potential that can be able to bring about development in their own lives, development in their families, in their community and it can also impact the nation as a whole."
Akosita Tuakineiaf , who teaches Ola Fou youth workers in Tonga, agrees that giving young people a sense of self-worth is crucial in the Pacific.
She says that in Tonga most of the work is with unemployed young people, and getting those who've dropped out of school back into education.
"If we focus on them getting [them] back to school so that they have a quality and qualified knowledge and education, then we minimise the problems and unemployment."
Ara Taiohi chief executive Anya Satyanand, who helped organise the event, says youth workers from the Pacific can help New Zealand's young Pasifika who face significant challenges.
"The wisdom that has been brought over by these youth development thought leaders from the Pacific has been amazingly useful and easy for people in New Zealand to understand and bring to their practise when working with people who hold the Pacific in their hearts and minds, but they're growing up here."
Elisha Paza Pitanoe says the gathering was a chance for workers to share their stories and showcase their achievements back home.
He says that will help in their work with young people.
"We believed that they can change and we believe they have potential to bring about development in their own lives, development in their families, in their communities and even it can impact the nation."
The workers all say that they learned valuable lessons at the conference and aim to use what they learned to help young people in their home countries.