Logan young people Jennifer Uwineza and Andrew Taukolo will share stories about young people leading change through the violence prevention initiative #R4Respect at an international conference on violence against women in Adelaide this month.
The two #R4Respect Youth Ambassadors will join a diverse group of people from around Australia, New Zealand, the Asia Pacific and Europe, at the three-day conference to discuss ways to prevent violence against women and children.
The Prevalent & Preventable conference, run by the Australian Women Against Violence Alliance, AWAVA, in conjunction with Our Watch, will take place at the Adelaide Convention Centre from Monday 19th to Wednesday 21st of September and will feature a long list of keynote speakers.
The event will have a particular focus on prevention, that is, on long term social change strategies to address the underlying drivers of violence, as a complement to response efforts.
Participants attending the conference will be exposed to interactive and action-focused workshops on different topics such as preventing violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children and young people as agents of change.
YFS CEO Cath Bartolo said the conference provides a wonderful opportunity for young people to get involved and have their say on how our communities could change for the future.
“We are delighted with the invitation and pleased to see our Youth Ambassadors are being encouraged to share their messages of respect. We can all benefit from what they have to offer to our community,” she said.
For #R4Respect Youth Ambassador, Andrew Taukolo the fact that he gets to participate in the conference is a very rewarding experience.
“It feels great to be part of this change that we have started creating ourselves. The opportunity in front of us today is huge, and we can all work together to make a difference,’ he added.
Conference host keynote speakers will be Natasha Stott Despoja, founding Chairperson of Our Watch and Julie Oberin, Chair of AWAVA.
Other speakers include Rosie Batty (Luke Batty Foundation), Professor Rashida Manjoo (University of Cape Town, South Africa), Marai Larasi (Executive Director of Imkaan, UK-based black feminist organisation) and representatives from PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
#R4Respect is YFS’ domestic violence prevention and education strategy for young people aged 12 to 24 in Logan. Its main focus is to prevent violence before it occurs.
To join the campaign, young people can follow R4Respect on Facebook or on Twitter – @R4Respect.
#R4Respect is proudly supported by the Queensland Government’s Advance Queensland initiative and the Australian Government, Department of Social Services.
The Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) program forms part of the Advance Queensland initiative, helping to create partnerships to exchange skills and ideas to inspire innovation.
More information about the conference here: http://conference.awava.org.au/