Youth of Kosovo raise their voices to end sexual violence in conflict!
During The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, June, 2014 in London, hosted by Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, a youth from Kosovo Suad, 19, represented World Vision and their peers from Youth for Peace network, as they united their voices with those of youth from around the world, representing 140 countries. During the conference, together with other teens, Suad, shared ideas and suggestions from his peers in Kosovo, with regard to how to end sexual violence in conflicts, globally.
To be sure their words represented their community, Suad and his friends in Kosovo organised different activities and meetings, such as meeting the United Kingdom embassy in Kosovo, representatives of the President’s office, also they created a survey which was conducted in three regions of Kosovo with the purpose of knowing how much youth in their communities talk about sexual violence and also asked them for their suggestions about how to help victims of sexual violence overcome their wounds, worldwide.
The youth from Kosovo surveyed around 80 peers and adults in their country; 78 per cent of whom agreed that they never or very rare talk about sexual violence in their community. The reason why people affected by the sexual violence don’t speak up or ask for help is primarily because of the shame they feel but also because of the belief that ‘‘no one in society will understand or help them’. As a solution survey responders believed that a safety net needs to be available to those affected, providing them financial help and a safe place to stay. The youth also pointed out the need to raise community awareness about the issue, so they could provide love, respect and care for the survivors and in this way help them and change perceptions of guilt in these types of situations, helping the victims know it wasn’t their fault.
In the presence of other youth invited in the summit, Suad said: “Together, we can raise our voices and share our compassion with the people in our communities about sexual violence. I come from a country that was in conflict. We have experienced sexual violence and we know the consequences of it. We want to share it with the whole world how it feels to experience sexual violence and how is it to live in such an experience,” he said.
“If we, together, do something to prevent the sexual violence, the whole world would be a better and safer place to live. Both children and adults would live in freedom. The communities would be more social and happier,” added Krenare, a 16-year-old member of the Youth for Peace group who participated in the survey the youth did in Kosovo.
After discussing the issue as group, the youth from 140 countries presented their shared recommendations. Among other things, they said in one voice: “As members of the youth summit group, we urge delegates to recognize that it is essential that young men, women, girls and boys play a key role in the design, implementation and accountability of interventions to end sexual violence in order for them to be successful”.
In addition to other things, the youth also agreed that all governments must ensure the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the child through national action plans, and recognize the important role that children and young people have in designing, implementing and monitoring effective interventions to end sexual violence at national and global levels.
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Meanwhile, the Youth for Peace members, organized different activities in Kosovo. Krenare held a speech alongside the United Kingdom ambassador in Kosovo and the representative from the President's office, launching the global campaign called #timetoact. They also participated in an open debate together with the representatives from different NGOs, talking about Sexual Violence in Conflict.
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