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UNICEF initiative invites Indonesian youth to speak up
A student from the national scout movement (Pramuka) speaks at a UNICEF Indonesia press conference on the launch of the U-Report Indonesia communication platform, in Jakarta on Friday
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A student from the national scout movement (Pramuka) speaks at a UNICEF Indonesia press conference on the launch of the U-Report Indonesia communication platform, in Jakarta on Friday. (thejakartapost.com/Liza Yosephine) (Pramuka) speaks at a UNICEF Indonesia press conference on the launch of the U-Report Indonesia communication platform, in Jakarta on Friday. (thejakartapost.com/Liza Yosephine)
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span class="inline inline-center">A student from the national scout movement (Pramuka) speaks at a UNICEF Indonesia press conference on the launch of the U-Report Indonesia communication platform, in Jakarta on Friday. (thejakartapost.com/Liza Yosephine)
A communications platform that aims to give youth the opportunity to have their opinions heard by the government has been launched by UNICEF Indonesia.
Through the initiative, called U-Report Indonesia, youth across the country are invited to become U-Reporters by following the official Twitter account @UReport_ID and tweeting their opinions.
'We want to facilitate a dialogue between youth and the government,' UNICEF communications chief Michael Klaus told thejakartapost.com recently.
According to Klaus, U-Report Indonesia would enable UNICEF to collect and analyze information on youth and deliver it to the government through related ministries that have the authority to deal with the issues raised, including the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry and the Culture and Education Ministry.
Klaus added that the initiative was the first U-Report platform in Asia and involved up to 40,000 Indonesian U-Reporters.
'The initiative was initially launched in Uganda in 2011, but it was SMS-based. U-Report Indonesia focuses on social media,' said Klaus.
According to UNICEF Innovative Lab lead Jeffrey Hall, the country's technology infrastructure and young people's high level of activity on social media provided an opportunity for the foundation to create a platform that would enable young generations to contribute to their communities.
To involve as many young people as possible, UNICEF Indonesia has also partnered with youth organizations such as the national scout movement (Pramuka), the Independent Youth Alliance (ARI) and Young Synergy (Sinergi Muda).
U-Report recently collaborated with UNICEF's child protection division to conduct a survey from which results were included in the draft of the 2015-2019 National Action Plan on Violence Against Children. (kes)
