Roslinda (JP/Donny Fernando)

Roslinda, 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.

Under Oslin’s leadership, the child forum requested that the Kombapari village administration help residents in obtaining the certificates, and the administration obliged by organizing a mass birth certificate registration campaign in 2018.

“Now, every child in my village has a birth certificate,” she said.

At the UN forum on sustainable development, Oslin focused on four advocacy areas: providing birth certificates for every child, optimizing the reporting system for violence against children, involving children in government development, and abolishing child marriage.

Oslin told the Post that the most memorable parts of her visit to New York were meeting with UN special representative of the secretary-general on violence against children Najat Maalla M’jid and addressing an audience that included ministers from different nations at the UNICEF House.

“Before our audience with Bu Najat we spoke about the issues children face in our respective countries and she summarized them as part of the recommendations [to the UN],” she said. “[It was very memorable] because she is the top [UN official] on violence against children and she has a lot of influence, so we are sure that our voices will be heard.”

Oslin arrived back in Indonesia on July 19, but she will not be going back to Kombapari until Wednesday, as she was scheduled to receive an award at a National Children’s Day event in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Tuesday.

“I hope that the government will involve children more in decision-making,” she said. “For example, children should be allowed to participate in musrembang [regional development forums] so that we can share the problems that we face and what we think the solutions should be.”

She also encouraged fellow children to speak out about the issues that concern them.

“For my fellow children, I would encourage you to speak your mind, to actively get involved, to raise your voices and participate,” she said in her speech at UNICEF. “Do not be afraid.”

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