OCT youth and the GO Programme at UNOC3

From the coasts of French Polynesia to the Côte d'Azur, via Saint-Pierre et Miquelon and Bermuda, the Green Overseas Programme set out to organize the participation of 10 young people from the Programme's overseas partner countries and territories (OCTs), so that they could raise their voices and make their opinions, experiences and ideas heard regarding ocean preservation and the consequences of climate change. This initiative follows on from the mobilization of young people from the OCTs at the Climate Finance Forum organized by the program last October.

On the occasion of the 3rd edition of the UN Conference on the Oceans, the GO Programme made a commitment to the youth of the countries and territories benefiting from the Programme, in particular by joining forces with Nausicaa, the National Sea Centre.

On June 8, on the occasion of World Oceans Day, the 10 young people arrive in Nice: time for a briefing with the GO team to prepare everyone's diaries for this dense week of meetings and events.

On the 9th, the conference opens. Accreditations in hand, everyone heads for the Blue Zone or the Green Zone. Some meet the likes of John Kerry, Ursula von der Leyen, Paul Watsons, and other eminent figures from the maritime sector, while others take part in a session of young people mobilized by Nausicaa to prepare the Youth Ocean Declaration.

On Tuesday, June 10, Hoanui Mariassouce and Nigel Maduro, two young people representing French Polynesia and Aruba respectively, invited by the GO Program, took part in a panel organized by Nausicaa dedicated to how youth from the OCTs form an essential link between contemporary science and traditional knowledge. On this occasion, they shared stories of their personal experiences with an audience of some sixty people, including representatives of the European Union and other young people from indigenous populations.
At the end of the day on June 11, GO Programme partners and OCT government representatives are invited to a reception in the old town of Nice, an event designed for young people from overseas territories and young people from the Nice region to exchange and meet, on the eve of the handover of the Youth Declaration for the Oceans carried by youth networks from around the world.
This Declaration, which contains the fruit of the work of some 200 young people sensitive to the protection of the Ocean, will be presented on June 12, 2025 before an assembly of official personalities - an event in parallel with which the Green Overseas Program will also organize a session dedicated to the appropriation of the messages of the said Declaration, and to the means conceivable to ensure that these objectives are realized in the territories concerned.

Two young people invited by the GO Program will then act as spokespersons for the delegation present at UNOC3 to discuss the main calls to action carried in the Declaration with various OCT representatives.