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'Listen to the children': East Nusa Tenggara teenager speaks at UN forum
Fourteen-year-old Roslin from Kombapari village, East Nusa Tenggara, spoke at the United Nations (UN) High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July to advocate for children's involvement in government decision-making.
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Roslinda, a 14-year-old from East Nusa Tenggara, speaks at a panel discussion at the "Leave No Child Behind: Achieving the SDGs through investing in the rights of the child" at UNICEF House, New York City, on July 15. (UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt)
R
oslinda, a 14-year-old middle school student from Kombapari village in East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, had never been outside the country until this month, when she went to New York City to attend the United Nations (UN) High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
After over 30 hours of travel from her home in East Nusa Tenggara, not including a 12-hour layover in South Korea, Oslin, as she is commonly called, arrived in New York and spoke at five sessions during the forum, including one where she spoke at a panel discussion involving National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro and ministers from other countries.
"I urge you to listen to the children's voice and involve children in discussions with government. Let us work together and play our roles to end violence against children," she said in her speech in English at the UNICEF House on July 15. "If you are a decision-maker at the local, national or international level, please listen to us, and protect us."
Oslin has been involved with Wahana Visi Indonesia, a partner of Christian aid organization World Vision International, since 2016, when she was still in elementary school. She was selected to lead the child forum in her village.
One of the main focuses of her activism is advocating for the creation of birth certificates for every child in her village.
"In our village, there is only one elementary school and one middle school. To go to high school, children have to go to the city, and without a birth certificate they are not accepted," she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Many children there did not have birth certificates because their parents could not afford to travel to the main district office to apply for certificates.
