Transcript
As part of the Women's Committee of Faleapuna in Samoa, Petronilla Molio'o Mataeliga has been tackling the issue of female unemployment through traditional Samoan mat weaving.
Ms Mataeliga says she wanted to acknowledge her grandmother who began the project called the Fala Masi Revival project.
"I talked solely on this project in my application for the Queen's Young Leaders awards, so I think the motivation is that I am giving back to my village Faleapuna and also to be recognised for the work that my grandmother has done and also the women's committee."
Due to its popularity with women, she has taken the project over to Apia so that it is central.
According to National statistics, nine per cent of women are unemployed, but Ms Mataeliga says the struggle for employment seems higher in her village.
"All the mothers are there. We are going through a very hard phase with teenage pregnancy. There were a lot of drop outs. My mother and also my aunties that are involved in the Faleapuna committee they try to bring all the young women in, give them something to learn and at the same time they can provide for their families, so this is more of an women empowerment project."
Millicent Barty from Solomon Islands looked into literacy rates and found that around 80 per cent of the population aged 25 to 60 can't read or write.
Ms Barty set up a project called Kastom Story Time, where she uses traditional story telling to educate and empower the underprivileged.
Through oral and pictorial techniques, she hopes these skills will get people communicating their views on social and political issues more.
She says access to education is one of the barriers to poor literacy.
"There's 992 islands in the Solomons and a lot of these communities are scattered and isolated, so therefore access to education is very poor. Mostly education institutions are very poor here,"
Ms Barty says education in her country is very difficult to afford.
"I support two of my cousins who are currently in secondary school in the province and in the province it's a lot cheaper than the town, but the quality is not that great, so I feel that they've been deprived of a quality education in the outer provinces. Just because logistically it's incredibly hard to sort of get materials out there."
Joshua Sefesi from Tonga educates young people about issues faced by Tongan women and girls, such as teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence.
Mr Sefesi is an advocate for sexual health reproduction and actively goes around the community talking about safe sex practices.
"Back in two years ago I started teaching some guitar chords to a few friends and groups. Music was the source of engagement for them to be interested in the session, so I can teach them how to play the guitar and at the same time I can address the issues and talk about safe sex and human rights."
Figures from Tonga's Ministry of Health show a high rate of teenage pregnancies this year, of around 30 births per 1000 girls.
Mr Sefesi says Tonga is a conservative nation and does not encourage discussion around sex.
But he found that at his sessions he holds with men to educate them on equality and safe sex practices, there is a willingness to learn.
"Most of them, more like gangster ways like tough guys, you're expecting they're not going to ask you anything or they'll probably come up against you, but they get to open up and share their own stories and ask questions about, which means they are interested to find out more." 0:17
The Queen's Young Leaders programme is in its fourth and final year.
The 2018 winners will receive training, mentoring and networking opportunities and take part in a residential programme in the U.K.
