A ceremony to reward initiatives for Quebec youth

On Tuesday, the 36th edition of the Rights and Freedoms Award ceremony took place at Maison d’Haïti.

The theme this year was “Becoming an Adult: Changing Trajectories, Nourishing Hope.”

The goal of the event is to highlight initiatives that support young people and help them make the jump into adulthood.

“It’s a ceremony to awards groups who are really, really great in human rights and freedom,” said Marjorie Villefranche, General Director of Maison d’Haïti.

“When you see what’s going on around the world, you see how important it is to remember that human rights and freedom are those two most important things in our society,” Villefranche added.

This ceremony comes at a time of the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 45th anniversary of the entry into force of the Youth Protection Act.

The Commission des droits helps highlight these important initiatives.

“Changing trajectories, nurturing hope, this is really a theme that is linked to the transition to adulthood for young people, particularly the most vulnerable young people. It’s really important to reward the organizations working in the field,” said Malado Woury Ka, Communications Advisor for Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission.

There were three finalists.

The initiative Transition vers la vie adulte won the award chosen by the jury. Their goal is to help young people who don’t have the family support or social network they need to gain new skills.

“We think that we have a very interesting program, which is also adapted to regional characteristics, which vary greatly from one region to another. In Quebec, it allows us to talk about it and recognize the work we do,” said Fabienne Audette, General Director for Fondation des Jeunes de la DPJ.

Cuisine ton avenir – DPJ by La Tablée des Chefs won the award chosen by the public. It offers cooking workshops to help young people develop basic culinary skills.

“I think that’s a privilege to be here. I think that having a push to tell us, ‘Look, what you’re doing, what you guys are doing is great,’ helps some vulnerable youth achieve getting through adulthood in a nice way, and La Tablée has a role to play in that,” said Geneviève Massé, Director of Education of La Tablée des Chefs.

The third finalist representing Projet Orion coordinated by Motivaction Jeunesse, also received recognition. Partnering with 14 local organizations, they support more than 200 young refugees across Quebec aged 12 to 25 as they learn to integrate into society.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to be one of the finalists and to be here. I’m delighted that my young people can be here and learn about other initiatives,” said Catherine Beauchemin, Coordinator of Motivaction Jeunesse – Orion Project.