8th National Youth Mela
24 March, 2014
The 8th National Youth Mela was held in Janakpur from 22 to 24 March with the objective to train young activists on campaigning techniques for human rights issues.
Over 100 activists from Amnesty Nepal’s Youth Activists across the country participated in the three-day event. Various indoor sessions and outdoor activities were held. In the indoor sessions, participants were briefed on the works of Amnesty International and the role of Youth Networks in human rights campaign. Representatives of the Youth Networks also shared their experience on human rights campaigning.
The Mela kicked off on 22 March with a panel discussion on the topic of Rights of Migrant Workers. The panelists included Former Ambassador of Nepal to Qatar Prof. Dr. Suryanath Mishra, well-known writer Krishna Dharabasi, Youth Leader (Communist Party Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist) Ram Kumari Jhankri and former Miss Nepal Malvika Subba. On 24 March, participants took out a rally around the city calling for protecting of rights of migrant workers. The mela was attended by youth members, local AI members and media.
With the objective to empower youth members for campaigning and activism, sessions were conducted on campaign strategies and ongoing priority campaigns of AI Nepal. The youth were also exposed to community work in a rural area to aware locals on rights of migrant workers. A street play was performed by a local theater group in the villages to spread awareness about rights of migrant workers. Signature campaign on ‘My body my rights’ Campaign was also held on the occasion.
There was participation of 106 youth representatives from various Youth Networks affiliated to AI Nepal. Amongst them 61 were female participants.