Following an outstanding week for youth advocacy in the run up to International Youth Day, read the inspirational words of Mohamed Sidibay. A peace and education activist from Sierra Leone, former child soldier and soon-to-be law student, Mohamed took part in the youth-led #NotMySchool Campaign with this incredible broadcast: Fighting the good fight against SRGBV. He called upon the global youth community to commit to taking action against school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), and to ensure that the impact of the campaign continues beyond International Youth Day.
Advocacy, awareness-raising, accountability. These are the building blocks for creating safe schools for all youth.
“My story of being a child soldier is not a unique one. Or rather, the opportunities I have received as a result of my education is what makes this story unique. Violence and trauma had become the defining terms of my childhood until I found education. I have been through unspeakable horrors.
When the civil war broke out, I was only 5 years old. School was supposed to be the safest place. Even if it was not the safest place to be, it still would have provided shelter, and normalcy. Imagine if the same school becomes a site for violence, like it is for too many children across the world. We see it every day. From Syria to Yemen. From Myanmar to India. An estimated 246 million children experience violence in and around school every year. Now if that were a country, it would be the fourth largest country in the world. 150 million girls and 73 million boys worldwide have experienced sexual violence. When I step back and reflect upon the scale of the tragedy, I ask myself, is this the world we want to create? Is this the world we want to live in?
School should be a safe place. School should be a place of learning and growth and exploration, not a site of crimes upon the bodies and minds of children. Education saved me from my circumstances. When the world had put me down, education picked me up and gave me opportunities. Now, as I’m about to start Law School, I realise more than ever that it is my responsibility to ensure that I continue this fight for quality education for every child. I want every child in the world, and especially girls who are particularly vulnerable, to be safe in school, because it is a right of every child to have equitable and inclusive quality education.
Throughout the week, in the #NotMySchool campaign, we’ve heard from youth advocates from all over the world speaking on gender-based violence. How can we take the conversation forward, beyond just this day? It’s essential that we don’t just stop talking about SRGBV now. The fight has just begun. Now, as our voices come together as one, we need to take it forward.
We, young people, must remain connected, and to talk about our best practices. This means we talk to each other about what we have worked on in our schools, organisations or youth groups in eliminating SRGBV. This will allow us to support each others’ initiatives, and to gather global support around days like International Youth Day, UNGA, and other important events, to eliminate SRGBV. SRGBV is where our fight to raise awareness really matters. It matters that people understand the various forms that violence can take, that students understand when they are experiencing violence and are able to talk about it. So let’s not stop talking about it, because this conversation has just begun.
If you’ve watched these videos from around the world, you see that young people want to get involved. We are ready to get involved. Include our voices in policy discussions. We have a vital perspective to add, as those who suffer from SRGBV, and those who will fight to make sure it stops. Work with us, as partners in projects on the ground, as well as in global policy dialogue. Only then will we truly resolve the issue of SRGBV.
Let’s make sure that our own schools and our own communities are not plagued with SRGBV. If each of us ensures that when it comes to SRGBV it’s #NotMySchool, we can make schools much safer for girls and boys across the world. I want to say to everyone: You are an advocate. You are an activist and an implementer. So it is your job to make sure we end SRGBV. So it is our duty to, our right, mine and yours, to ensure that all the children and young people are safe. We should be the first ones to stand up for each other, and we should stand up now. Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not in a few hours, but right now. Let’s make our voices be heard on this very important day, and beyond.”
