My Participation in Children's Group Sends Me to Tour the World
'Saturday, 5 October 2013, at 6 pm was a historical day in my life, because that day I got an amazing opportunity to fly to Geneva, Switzerland to voice issues, hopes, and dreams of all Indonesian children,' writes Muhammad, 16, know by his nickname, Ipin.
For Ipin, leaving his city, Jakarta, moreover getting on a plane, is beyond anything he could dream. That day he left Jakarta for the first time. Ipin's departure to Geneva was due to an invitation of the 66th Pre-sessional Working Group of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Ipin was selected by 200 participants of the National Children Forum and given the mandate to deliver the Indonesian children's voice on the realities of child right's fulfillment to the UNCRC.
Ipin tells the condition of Indonesian children confidently, talking about the hope of Indonesian children to United Nations and to Indonesian government.
Members of the UNCRC were impressed with Ipin's calmness and confidence in presenting and answering question addressing to him and they promised to follow-up on Ipin's ideas.
Ipin, who was known as a timid boy, comes from a simple family in Cilincing, North Jakarta. His active involvement in the Cilincing Children Forum (CCF) in 2010 has transformed his life. He began to have courage to speak in public and became a resource person for his peers.
He is involved in peer educator activities that routinely teach his about child rights, HIV and AIDS, narcotics, health reproduction, and other issues.
Besides Ipin, Tedi, 12, from Pontianak, West Kalimantan, was selected to fly to Tanzania, to attend World Vision's Triennial Council meeting.
Restanti, 16, from Nias, North Sumatera also represents Indonesian children when she attended the European Development Days in Brussels, Belgium in November 2013.
Irwa and Nordianto from West Kalimantan also had the opportunity to talk about their hopes for the Millennium Development Goals - Post 2015 during a Youth Multi Stakeholder Meeting and High Level Panel Meeting in Bali.