Pakistani girls stand tall among 16 countries in Global Youth Challenge

Islamabad: United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in collaboration with School of Leadership Monday celebrated the achievement of the Red Code team, recently declared one of the winners of the Generation Unlimited (GenU) Global Youth Challenge.The team was comprised of three young Pakistani girls, Sara Farooq Khan, Sana Farooq Khan and Mahin Usman. 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. A total of 32 teams from 16 countries participated and presented their ideas in the Challenge.On 12 April, five global winners were announced. The team ‘Red Code’ from Pakistan was one of them; others included teams from Thailand, Zimbabwe, Sudan and North Macedonia. Each winning team will receive $20,000 and tailored mentorship for scaling up their respective projects, a press release said.Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul while addressing the ceremony as chief guest said, “In Pakistan, 22 million people continue to defecate in the open, out of which at least 10 million are women and girls.” Not only does this put the health and well-being 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 congratulate Unicef on the initiative of launching the GenU Global Youth Challenge and 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 added.Congratulating the Red Code team, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Neil Buhne said, “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.Their bright ideas shared at the global stage will now benefit their communities. “She said United Nations (UN) would continue to work with the Government of Pakistan in partnership with young people to help them learn, develop employment based skills and find pathways to jobs and opportunities.”Expressing her delight at the performance of the young Pakistan team, the Acting Unicef Representative in Pakistan, Ellen Van Kalmthout said, it was a matter of immense pleasure that young people, including girls, have found a platform in the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge to give voice to their own life experiences with sensitive issues.In 2018, Unicef Pakistan Country Office 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.

from The News International - National http://bit.ly/2V32q6l