Bokyong Mun and Revathi Nishtala have set up a branch of
the Save the Children organisation's Child and Youth
Council in Dunedin. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Two Dunedin girls are on a mission to give youth a voice.
Bokyong Mun and Revathi Nishtala (both 16) have recently
returned from attending Save the Children's annual conference
in Wellington, where they took part in its Child and Youth
Council.
The experience inspired the Otago Girls' High School pupils
to set up a branch of the council in Dunedin.
"We want to spread awareness and promote child advocacy,"
Revathi said.
Young people did not usually get a chance to have a say and
present their views but the council would enable them to do
that, they said.
Nationally, the council had set up the "value exchange"
online to give youth the opportunity to express their
opinions.
"We'd like to get more projects going to help in New
Zealand."
Their attendance at the council meeting grew out of their
involvement in the charity P3 Foundation's social enterprise
competition.
The pair, with two others, developed a mentoring programme to
help young women fulfil their dreams.
They made it into the finals of the competition and their
work caught the attention of Save the Children.
The girls were the first young people from Dunedin to take
part in the council.
"We've met a lot of people on the way and it's been a good
way to meet other youth passionate about developing projects
and getting real results," Bokyong said.
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