Three young people are inspiring and leading their peers after taking part in ChildFund Timor-Leste’s Inspiring Youth Changemakers program.
The program brings together youth from diverse backgrounds to learn leadership, economic empowerment and other vital life skills they need to become resilient individuals. It equips young people with the skills and knowledge to manage a variety of social challenges, including domestic violence, young marriage, conflict, unemployment and other issues they face.
Meet Sidalia, Juvêncio, and Brigita, three young people establishing themselves as community leaders.
Sidalia
To a young woman like Sidalia, 23-years-old, this training represents a change.
“I need to make a change for myself and for my family. After I participated in those trainings, I became a stronger woman”.
The most significant change she experienced after the training is that she became more confident in herself.
“Before I attended the training, I was a shy person, I could not even walk through the crowd. But now I feel more confident in public and am brave enough to speak in front of a crowd about issues impacting other youth.”
After the training, she was excited to build on her knowledge of leadership and be able to emulate different leadership styles. She was also able to share what she learnt with her peers in her village.
“When I shared information about leadership with other youth in my village, they were excited to listen. They received the information very positively and as the facilitator, this made me very happy.”
Juvêncio
Juvêncio, 25-years-old, believes that the youth changemaker program is helping to prepare young people for the future.
“Other youth should participate in the training because it will increase their resilience to any challenges they might face in the future.”
Like Sidalia, Juvêncio valued the leadership training. He said that he now has a clearer idea of what makes a good leader and how he can use these skills in his own life.
“Before the training I didn’t know the difference between a leader and leadership, but after training I know the definition for both those things. I know how I can be a good leader for my community.”
Brigita
Brigita, a 17-year-old is a high school student, shared that the training motivated her to seek higher levels of education and has had many positive impacts on her life. She strongly encourages other young girls in her village to take advantage of this opportunity.
“I should not miss out on any opportunity to learn just because I am a woman. Women and girls should take part in the training. Just because we are women does not mean we don’t have power. As women we need to take these opportunities in front of us to become more empowered.”
The Youth Changemakers project is supported by ChildFund New Zealand and implemented in Lautem municipality by ChildFund Timor-Leste and local partner, Ba Futuru.
In the weeks since Russia launched an invasion in Ukraine, 3.6 million people have fled into neighbouring countries and 6.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of the armed conflict.
Since the fighting began, more than 3,000 Ukrainian civilians have lost their lives – including children. These figures are likely underrepresented and will continue to rise.
While ChildFund Alliance’s member organisation, ChildFund Deutschland, has been working in Ukraine since 2004, both ChildFund Deutschland and fellow alliance member, WeWorld, are acting quickly to provide emergency services to children and their families.
Since the outbreak of violence, ChildFund has supported five partner organisations in Ukraine to deliver relief activities. These funds support the distribution of food, medicine and basic household items that can be sent to families in need.
Working with local organisations across Ukraine, ChildFund has set up two distribution centres in the Cherkasy and Rivne regions to share vital food, hygiene, and medical supplies.
“ChildFund Australia is working alongside WeWorld, ChildFund Deutschland and other aid organisations to provide food, psychosocial support, education, and hygiene essentials, with particular attention given to children and babies who need baby food, formula and nappies,” said Margaret Sheehan, ChildFund Australia CEO.
However, many supplies are becoming scarce, especially medical supplies. The ongoing fighting is making it more difficult to buy food in the cities and food must often be transported long distances which is dangerous to do in areas where there is active fighting.
Because of the conflict and dwindling supplies, many Ukrainians continue to flee their homes. In Moldova, 89% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children. Moldova is a small country with just over four million people living there. They have welcomed 380,000 Ukrainian refugees since the crisis started and more arrive every day.
ChildFund has set up four emergency accommodation centres for refugee families. On average every family spends four weeks living in temporary accommodation. Over the next few months, they expect to support 2,800 families fleeing conflict – including over 1,000 children.
“We had to leave our apartment near Kyiv. We could only bring the most essential things and didn’t have time to take any belongings that mean so much to us. This is very sad,” said Vitalya, mother to one year old Avdey.
With their world in turmoil, children need a safe space. ChildFund is working with a mobile team to provide psychological first aid and counselling services and creating dedicated child-friendly spaces where children can have a safe space to gather and continue to access an education.
The situation in Ukraine is evolving and changing every day, and every day children and young people are on the frontlines of violence. As we publish this story, there are allegations of war crimes in Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel near Kyiv. Throughout the conflict there have been ongoing reports of grave violations of children’s rights. We echo the UN’s call that it is essential for all reports of violence against civilians to be independently verified.
You can help. Your support will help deliver relief as the crisis unfolds.
