NYDA rolls out youth strategy in Simbu with three-day socialisation program

Stakeholders from provincial, district, non-government organisations and church groups attend the second day of the NYDA National Youth Engagement Strategy socialisation program *(Image: NBC News / Benjamin Tabie)*

The National Youth Development Authority [NYDA] is currently conducting a three-day socialisation program in Simbu to roll out the National Youth Engagement Strategy [NYES] 2025–2029.

The event, scheduled from August 3 to 5, 2026, completed its second day today at Mountain Hut Lodge, where NYDA officials continued presenting the insights and components of the new national framework to provincial, district, non-government organisations, church, and other stakeholders.

Acting National Youth Engagement Strategy manager Israel Luluaki said Simbu is the 10th province in the country to involve in the NYES socialisation program.

Luluaki said the 2025–29 strategy is Papua New Guinea’s roadmap for mobilising young people into meaningful structural empowerment and employment.

He said the strategy was formally approved under National Executive Council Decision No. 61/2025, following a Prime Ministerial directive on youth mobilisation issued in January 2024, and will be administered by NYDA under the NYDA Act 2014.

"Key strategic pillars emphasised in the sessions include youth mobilisation and registration, sectoral employment pathways, and the signing of joint inception and implementation plans at provincial and district levels," he said.

The program will culminate on Wednesday and Thursday with the signing of the Joint Inception and Implementation Plan by the Simbu Provincial Government, the Provincial Administrator, and NYDA Director General Joe Bato.

Among the stakeholders present was Deputy Provincial Administrator Kale Simai, who said the socialisation aims to bring young people to the centre of sustainable development through coordinated provincial, district, and stakeholder actions.