I was a delegate to the 7th Civicus World Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland. Wow! There were 1000 delegates from NGOs and other stakeholders. The workshops and pleneries were amazing. It was great learning from the gurus of civil society. The most thrilling part of the conference was the gala awards night, when I accepted the Civicus Nelson Mandela Graça Machel Innovations award on behalf of FRIEND. FRIEND was one of three winners of the innovations award, for which we submitted a proposal on our Youth EmploymentNetwork project last year.It was an awesome occasion when I was called to receive the award in the presence of 1000 people. There was applause from the crowd as people stood up to cheer for me and were calling out “Fiji!” It was a very special moment. Though it was not the Academy Awards, I was made to feel I was receiving an Oscar.

Click to View Document