At 19 years old, the current Miss PNG and Miss Pacific Islands, Leoshina Kariha, is the 2019 UNICEF Youth Advocate for PNG, to support UNICEF’s advocacy work with young people.
This is the first time the UNICEF Country office in PNG is formally engaging a young Papua New Guinean to join a growing list of well-known and highly respected personalities throughout the world from sports, music, performing and film arts and many other specialized fields who play an important advocacy role in support of UNICEF’s work.
Miss Kariha’s engagement was announced by the UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, Karin Hulshof, who said Leoshina represents a positive role model for young people in particular.
As a youth advocate for the country. Leoshina will support advocacy efforts in communicating to a broad public and young people, the vision and values that guide UNICEF’s work for children and promote public awareness of the rights of children, women and young people.
As a cultural ambassador for the Pacific Islands and PNG, her role resonates what the Miss Pacific Islands and Miss PNG pageants are all about and that is to provide a platform to advance young women and develop them into leaders in fields such as medicine, law, health, and agriculture.
Leoshina is passionate about encouraging young people to raise their voices on issues affecting their lives and islands including also women empowerment, climate change, and gender equity.
Being a youth advocate, Leoshina is one of two young people who will also represent the youth of PNG at the 8th Annual Economic and Social Council Youth Forum in New York early next month to participate and contribute to discussions on issues central to their livelihoods and empowerment.
