by Hayley Paku MSYP

My name is Hayley Paku and I attend Clydebank High School. I’m happy to introduce myself as a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament representing Clydebank and Milngavie.

The Scottish Youth Parliament is a youth-led organisation based around Article 12 of the United Nations Coventions on the Rights of the Child. It essentially states that young people should be given the opportunity to join political groups and to be involved in decision making.

I stood for SYP elections in March - I felt that young people in my area were underrepresented and I wanted to see change for my constituents. This still stands, and through my two-year term, I aim to work with important figures to find a way to combat issues that affect young people in Clydebank.

Before the sitting, I was consulting with young people in Clydebank about potential campaign topics for the SYP. Topics to be voted on were: youth work, environmental protection, young offenders reintegration, public transport and national minimum wage. The majority vote was for public transport. But environmental protection was the most voted for across Scotland.

The first national sitting was a residential stay held in Clackmannanshire. Within this event, all MSYPs in Scotland were brought together in Alva Academy to be formally brought into our new elected positions. Various activities were held, such as an introduction to debating and the necessary skills.

There were three “How to SYP” workshops: facilitation, MSYP record and another regarding how to engage with decision makers. These were useful as they gave valuable information on how to make consultations, meetings and engagements as effective as possible.

The second day of this event was the AGM, where the new board for the organisation was announced.

During the weekend we had the ability to join one of 10 committees. These are a group of 10 or more people that look at issues regarding their topic. I joined the equalities and human rights committee and am currently looking at the global rape epidemic.

Aside from that, I am currently in the process of working towards my participatory democracy certificate, with the support of two excellent staff from WDC’s Working4U. I am also working with Working4U to launch the West Dunbartonshire Youth Council that will hopefully be established soon.

If you’re a constituent and would like to get in touch, find me on Twitter

@HayleyPakuMSYP

or email hayley.paku.msyp@sypmail.org.uk.