EU and Girl Rising celebrate the Human Rights Day with Community-based School Children

11.12.2019

Youth and Children Stand up For Human Rights in Pakistan

 

European Union Delegation to Pakistan in special collaboration with the Girl Rising organised a film screening for the local community-based school children on 10 December at the International Labour Organisation’s Islamabad office.

The event was organised under this year’s Human Rights Day theme, ‘Youth Standing Up for Human Rights’ to highlight the role of young people and their participation in social development movements to bring change. The event was also a part of the 5th edition of the Human Rights Reel Film Festival 2019 which also had its closing ceremony the same day.  Started 1 December, the ten-day festival was organised by the European Union Delegation to Pakistan, in partnership with the United Nations, sixteen EU and UN Member States, as well as educational and cultural institutions across Pakistan. The dates of the festival also coincided with 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence - an annual international campaign ending on Human Rights Day on 10 December - celebrating the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

The Human Rights Reel Film Festival is partnering with Girl Rising movement for the first time expanding its audience from the youth and university students to school children. In order to reach out to children a special film ‘Girl Rising’ was screened to mark the contribution of the young people who managed to bring a positive change the world.  The film follows the inspiring stories of three young women from Haiti, Nepal and Pakistan. In the first case Wadley – a 7-year-old – refuses to let her spirit and thirst to learn be crushed in face of a devastating earthquake that destroyed her home and school. Suma – a 6-year old from Nepal – is forced into bonded labour and endures years of gruelling work but changes course of her life through her love for education. Hajra – 25-year-old professional football player and the captain of Pakistan women's football team – earns recognition in a male-dominated sport through her passion for football playing.  

 

Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan Mrs Androulla Kaminara, Child Protection Specialist UNICEF Muqaddisa Mehreen, Captain Pakistan Women’s Football team Hajra Khan and Programme Manager Rozan Pakistan Fouzia Yasmin participated in the interactive session moderated by Multimedia Journalist Nosheen Abbas .  At the event the Captain Pakistan Women’s National Football team, Hajra Khan said, “'It is more important now than it has ever been to introduce basic human rights amongst other social issues to the adolescents."

 

An online campaign to generate debate on the topics of the film was launched by the organisers and can be followed under the hashtag #HRREEL19.