Songs, poems, and video clips have illustrated the experiences of young people from Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps in northern Myanmar. Working in pairs, these 154 young men and women shared stories of their lives in a small co-designed project on the Kachin border with China, funded by UnionAID. Common concerns shared were: no job or business opportunities, school drop-out, underage marriage and maternal deaths, drug use, inaccessible roads, no parks to play and poor health care for the elderly and disabled.
Based on these stories, the participants developed a strategic plan, guided by the Project Manager, Tu Li from our 2019 MYLP. This plan was presented to local authorities including health, police, and administration officials and some charitable organisations (see photo). As well as youth gaining the confidence to speak out, in response to their advocacy health agencies provided medications and other health services, and local schools reopened their doors to those who had dropped out.
