By Athirah Mohammad
PETALING JAYA: Student Ain Husniza (pic) will be speaking at the Inspire Conference organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), according to her father.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (26 October), Saiful Nizam said his daughter would be joining Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid – the special representative of the United Nations secretary-general – as a panelist alongside six other speakers on 30 October.
“In the discussion, Ain Husniza will voice some views and suggestions on the current situation of children’s rights in Malaysia, especially in terms of access to quality education, improving the level of safety in schools, mental well-being, policies and so on.
“Hopefully, with the space and opportunity provided, this will open a more dynamic future to the process of adapting to the post-pandemic changes of COVID-19 for all, especially children,” Saiful said.
According to him, Ain was among the seven representatives of countries from the East Asia and Pacific region who were selected to speak at the conference. Other countries include Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand.
Ain Husniza made headlines earlier this year for calling out her physical education teacher’s rape jokes made in class.
Her exposé triggered a social media movement calling for the end of sexual harassment in schools with the hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace.
The Inspire conference, which was launched in 2016, sought to accelerate action in the region to ensure that every child is safe from violence.
The regional conference will start on 1 – 5 November with a clear objective of “Ending Violence Against Children During COVID-19 and Beyond” and will be live-streamed from UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific’s Facebook page.***
Source: The Star