Former Chairperson of CEPS Board
Gender: Female
Nationality: Seychelloise
Telephone: +248 2596862
Emails: [email protected] / [email protected]
Mrs. Virginia Francoise Larue is the current Secretary of the of Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (CEPS), after serving two mandates as a Commissioner and the Chairperson consecutively.
Mrs. Larue started her career with the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in December 1977 as a Social worker and in 979 she joined the Nursing profession and went on to graduate in General Nursing in 1983 and Midwifery in 1984. She was seconded to work with the Ministry of Education and Culture as a nurse for the National Youth Service but later assumed the responsibility of Student Affairs in the same Ministry. Mrs. Larue attended courses on “Methods and techniques of Youth work” organized jointly by the Commonwealth Youth Program and the Ministry of Education Information and Youth in 1987. After she followed Probation Services Course’’ organized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mrs. Larue was taken to work with a newly formed Ministry, of Local Government as a Liaison officer to the district councils, in 1992. She also benefited from other important trainings such as public relations, managing people, leadership, supervisory skills development, team building, personnel management etc.
She attended various training on the Environment, Management of Community Services, and Development for District Administrators and upper-level managers organized by local and international partners. She led the National Beautification Campaigns that took place in all the districts. Through her charisma t several partners such as schools, hotels and churches and households were brough together for citizens empowerment in environment. In 2000 Mrs. Larue was promoted to the Director of National Consumers Forum, the sole consumer organization in Seychelles. She was then transferred to the post of Director for Housing Administration, then Property Manager at Providence Industrial Estate Ministry of Land Use and Habitat Division, Department of Industry & Small Business Ministry of Finance respectively. Mrs. Larue joined the Department of Defense in March 2011 and was s responsible for Staff Welfare in the military. She attended Training workshops on Planning Effective campaigns and communication Materials to implement the National Gender Policy and Plan of Action. Child Protection Course- Security Sector Reform Course Peace & Conflict Studies School, The United Nations Protection Course Integrated Mission Planning Course training in Gender Base Violence.
In the Civil Society Sector, Mrs. Larue was the Vice and Chairperson of the Association for the Solidarity for the Family (ASFF) the leading NGO in Reproductive Health in Seychelles from 2012 to 2016. ASFF was offering family planning, and gynecology, including doing their Pap smear tests for women and also Men’s clinic. Education of youths and young adults was also a main objective aimed to help reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies, detect cervical cancers early, and give advice to women who decide to come to the clinic for any kind of help.
Mrs. Larue is the founder and Chairperson of Survival Ark Foundation (SAF) an NGO envisioning to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children through empowerment and life-changing activities hence bringing forth transformation in the community.” The various community initiatives address a range of issues, including the prevention and reduction of social ills such as substance abuse and delinquency seeking to increase pro-social attitudes and behaviors (courtesy, cooperation, community); economically, it helps alleviate poverty
During the time Mrs. Larue was Commissioner for Social Health and Education on the Civil Society Platform (CEPS); a member of The National Aids Council, which had the Functions and Powers of coordinating the national response to HIV and AIDs in Seychelles. -A member of the National Tobacco Control Board which is responsible for advising and making recommendations to the Minister on matters relating to tobacco control. -has also been a member of the National Commission for Child Protection representing Civil Society since 2018. The Commission is a high-level advisory committee with the mandate to look at all matters concerning children. Her exceptional performance as a commissioner brough her to be elected as the Chairperson of CEPS in 2021 and the Secretary in 2024 to ensure that we preserve the institutional memory and ensures the continuity.
