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Let us listen to the voices of youth
Aspiring young people both in rural and urban settings are now uniting to tackle teen marriage and pregnancy, which continues to haunt millions of youth in Indonesia
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spiring young people both in rural and urban settings are now uniting to tackle teen marriage and pregnancy, which continues to haunt millions of youth in Indonesia.
Two passionate young leaders ' Anggraini Sari Astuti and Nanda Fitri Wardani ' will speak on behalf of Indonesian youth at the coming International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) being held in Nusa Dua, Bali from Jan. 25 to Jan. 28.
'At the ICFP, we will share our experiences and programs with other youth participants from around the world and how we can work together to eliminate problems related to early marriage,' said Anggraini, a graduate from University of Indonesia's School of Public Health in Jakarta in 2013.
When she lived in Karanganyar in Central Java, Anggraini saw her friends as young as 13 to 17-years-old having to enter forced marriages. 'When I was 15 years old, I was proposed to marry a village boy. Thank God, my parents refused to follow the old tradition and sent me to school instead.'
When she was a medical student, together with several friends, Anggraini set up Indonesian Youth Health Ambassadors. She was also appointed to be a member of the Global Citizen Corps
and the Youth Advisory Panel UNFPA Indonesia.
She is now working as a national UN Youth volunteer at UNFPA to work on its project about youth development and to identify the emerging issues of young people in Indonesia. She extensively travels throughout the country to educate young people on various health, population and development issues.
'We must delay adolescent pregnancy by empowering both girls and boys and educating them on the importance of education to shape their better future.'
Anggraini is also working closely with the Health Ministry to help develop a national action plan on school-aged children's and adolescents' health (a guide book for Indonesian teachers on youth reproductive health) and the National Action Plan on Youth Development (RAN), which touches on issues like the demographic dividend.
Born in Bandar Lampung in 1993, the other young leader, Nanda Fitri Wardani, who graduated from Padjadjaran University's School of Medicine in the West Java capital of Bandung last November, was already active as a peer educator on youth reproductive health and other youth problems.
Nanda will become one of panelists at ICFP's youth session entitled 'Challenging Old Assumptions, Forging New Agenda'.
Nanda has been active in educating youth on reproductive health in West Java and other provinces in Indonesia. When visiting a remote and underdeveloped village about an eight-hour drive from Bandung, Nanda and her friends found so many girls aged 12 to 15 years were already married.
'I was crying when they told me that they really wanted to go to school instead of having babies. Some of them had even dreamed of becoming teachers or doctors,' Nanda said.
When visiting the eastern part of Indonesia, including Lombok Island, she found the same situation also affects girls there.
'There are many 17-year-old girls who have been married and divorced three or four times,' said Dayat, chair of the Bumi Gora Youth Group and youth ambassador from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
About 30 percent of the West Nusa Tenggara population comprises youths with a low level of education; most have only graduated from junior high school.
'In our village, there is a centuries-old tradition of merariq kodeq, or eloping. Many are underage girls,' says Ihsanuddin, chair of the Young Family Planning and Family Empowerment group in Dasan Tereng village in West Lombok.
In the South Sulawesi capital Makassar, the Independent Youth Alliance is moving forward to touch on youth issues, including teen marriage, in the city.
'It is past time for young people to be able to obtain accurate information and education on sexual and reproductive health through suitable and effective communications so they can understand and protect their own bodies,' explained Nur Samsul Rizal, a student of the Islamic State University (UIN) in Makassar, who is also an ambassador for Planned Generation (GenRe) from the province.
GenRe was launched by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) to prepare youths for a smooth and easy transition into adulthood by planning their education, career, family and supporting them to become responsible members of society who have healthy lives.
Through the Youth and Student Information and Counseling Center (PIK), young people become peer educators and counselors to encourage people of the same age to say no to free sex, drugs, STDs, HIV/AIDS and teen marriage.
