Youth urged to step forward to resolve their problems

Climate change minister assures youth of greater govt support

ISLAMABAD: The youth of the country must step forward and seize the initiative to solve the critical issues that they face.

This was suggested by the State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Wazir during an event to celebrate the Red Code Team. The team comprises three young girls namely Sara Farooq Khan, Sana Farooq Khan and Mahin Usman who were recently declared as the winners of the Generation Unlimited (GenU) Global Youth Challenge. The event was organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the School of Leadership (SoL).

The GenU Global Youth Challenge is an initiative launched by UNICEF to engage young people and encourage them to find innovative solutions to issues from their everyday life.

“In Pakistan, 22 million people continue to defecate in the open, of which at least 10 million are women and girls,” lamented Gul, adding, “Not only does this put the health and wellbeing of these women and children at risk, but they are also faced with safety and security hazards. We must not allow this to go on.”

“I…call upon the youth of Pakistan to step forward and join us in working towards resolving the issues they face, particularly girls, in their daily lives,” she said, adding, “The incumbent government is deeply engaged in bringing about social change and I assure you that in taking menstrual hygiene management forward, we will lead from the front.”

In 2018, the UNICEF Pakistan Country Office had invited young people between the ages of 14-24 from across the country to participate in the challenge and present innovative ideas on tools, models and services around hygienic menstrual management for girls and women.

A total of 32 teams from 16 countries had participated in the challenge. On April 12, five global winners were announced, including team ‘Red Code’ from Pakistan. Other winners included teams from Thailand, Zimbabwe, Sudan and North Macedonia, with each team winning $20,000 and a tailored mentorship for scaling up their respective projects.

“Today we see what happens when we give young people the chance to develop creative solutions to the issues they face in their daily lives,” stated United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne as he congratulated the team on winning the challenge. “Their bright ideas shared at the global stage will now benefit their communities.”

He went on to say that the United Nations will continue to work with the government in partnership with young people and for young people so that they can be provided with help to learn, develop employability skills and find pathways to jobs and other opportunities.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2019.