UNICEF awards RI children

JAKARTA: Sixteen children have been nominated by non- governmental organizations and the government for the inaugural United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Award for Youth Leadership in East Asia and the Pacific.

The winners will be announced on May 6, during the 6th East Asia and Pacific Ministerial Consultation on Children, to take place in Bali from May 5 to May 7.

"Unicef wants to ensure Indonesian children have a voice in the decisions affecting them. And this is one way of demonstrating that the work and actions of children have made a contribution," UNICEF's representative to Indonesia Steve Allen said in a press release.

The regional director of UNICEF, Mehr Khan, said the award would become a regular event in the region to correspond with each ministerial consultation, the next to be held in two years. -- JP