Port-au-Prince, Haiti, August 6, 2018 --- "Participating in this activity is a chance for me to represent my country and promote the voice of young people, especially young women."

The young Haitian who speaks like this is Christa Exil, 22 years old. She is involved with about 50 other young leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean at the Youth Leadership Conference in Lima, Peru, August 1-6, 2018.

This event was designed by UNFPA and its partners - Plan International, the Latin American and Caribbean Youth Alliance, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Central America and Mexico Youth Fund - for young people aged 15 to 25 to share their experiences and collaborate with other human rights networks.

Christa sees her participation in this event as an opportunity to share her experiences, knowledge and culture with other countries in the region, but also to learn from other young leaders.

"Through this activity, we, as  young people, have shared a sense of unification, symbiosis and awareness that our communities face the same difficulties and that it is up to us to get involved in order to bring about the change that we wish, " said this student in international relations.

Using participatory and experimental methodologies, young leaders were given the opportunity, during the  four days, to build their capacity in the areas of political advocacy, participation and inclusion in civil society spaces. in line with the spirit of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Montevideo Consensus and the Sustainable Development Goals. At the end of the camp, those young people have the opportunity to participate in the Third Regional Conference on Population and Development.

The young representative of Haiti is already thinking of how she will give back to her peers all she has learned in Lima.
"I intend to share the concepts learned by making feedback sessions with young people, and by raising their awareness on different topics, such as human rights, sexual and reproductive health, youth participation and involvement."

Christa Exil is involved as a volunteer with the youth of her community, "Kay Sale", in Rivière Froide, at Carrefour, south suburb of Port-au-Prince, since the age of 14, through  her father’s church who is pastor.

In December 2016, she joined the Haiti Adolescent Girls Network (HAGN), where she received training to become a mentor. Since then, she has  been volunteering with girls in her community.

The mentor, as perceived by HAGN, is a young person who uses her knowledge to help other young people, to help them grow, as part of UNFPA's project "A future for teenagers in Haiti", thanks to financial support from the Government of Canada. This project contributes among others to the development of skills and leadership of adolescent girls and young people in vulnerable situations.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Story: Vario Sérant