Orissa teenager represents India in Rome for J8

While top global leaders like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are meeting in Italy, Orissa teenager Sanyukta Pangi is busy attending a summit parallel to the G8-G5 summit with the hope of putting education - especially of the girl child - on their agenda.

An initiative of the Unicef, J8 (Junior 8) is a meeting of 52 youngsters from G8 countries and non-G8 nations like India and Brazil. Sixteen-year-old Pangi from the nondescript Karanjaguda village in tribal Koraput district is representing India.

“If I could ask the world’s leaders to prioritise one thing to help children, it would be education,” Pangi said Friday through a Unicef communique from the J8 summit, a youth summit being held parallel to the G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy.

“I had to struggle to go to school. If I hadn’t convinced my father to let me continue going to school I would not have been at the J8,” said Pangi, who is among the 14 people in the 14-17 age group who were selected by their peers to meet the global leaders.

Young people from India, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain, the US, Brazil, China, Egypt, Mexico and South Africa are attending the week-long event.

The 52 members of the J8 have released a declaration and plan to call for action to address issues in education, climate change, children’s rights in the context of the global financial crisis and poverty and development in Africa.

The J8 aims to make sure that the G8 and non-G8 leaders listen to young people’s voices when they make decisions that affect them.

Pangi, who wants to become the district collector of Koraput in the next 10 years, said: “I want the leaders to know about what tribal girls are facing in India.”

Besides Pangi, two other Indian students -- Narendra Kumar, 14, from Uttar Pradesh and Samuel Venkatesen, 17, from Tamil Nadu -- are also in Rome to participate in the meet. Though Kumar and Venkatesan will not meet global leaders, they have already interacted with some members of the Italian parliament.

Both boys agreed with Pangi that education is the number one priority of India’s young people. Children in developed countries have time to play and have fun because they take their education for granted, Venkatesan said. But kids in developing countries like India have to struggle to go to school.

“I want free, quality education for all kids in developing countries and ensure rights for girls. Special attention needs to be given to orphans like me - I have lost my father,” Venkatesan said.

Last updated on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 14:53 pm IST--IANS