* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
More than 500,000 young people to take part in 3 May events
Bangkok, 2nd May 2014 – More than 500,000 people will take part in Habitat Youth BUILD activities tomorrow. The campaign, driven by young people in 11 countries, raises awareness of the poverty housing situation in the Asia-Pacific region and inspires people to take action to tackle the growing problem.
“Habitat Youth BUILD 2014 is set to break all previous records, with more than half a million people engaged in activities on 3 May. This is in addition to the 10,000 young people that have supported the campaign already this year,” said Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity vice president for Asia-Pacific.
On 3 May 2014, thousands of young people are expected to march to major squares in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur in Nepal, for a rally to draw attention to the poverty housing situation in the country.
In Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, thousands of volunteers will be building homes, painting, and improving shared community spaces.
A flash mob in Jakarta, Indonesia, forms part of an awareness-raising event involving hundreds more volunteers.
In Japan, student volunteers will take part in street fundraising, raising vital funds to build safe, decent homes for low-income families.
China, Thailand and Korea will mark the day online, galvanizing the support of volunteers to raise awareness across social networks.
To find out more about Habitat Youth BUILD, visit habitatyouthbuild.org.
“Young people across Asia are determined to create change in the region. A decent home helps break the poverty cycle, leading to better health, and improved education and employment opportunities,” continued Hathaway.
Youth in 11 countries – Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea and Thailand – have been campaigning on- and offline to garner support for the Habitat Youth BUILD movement since February 2014. Build experiences, awareness and fundraising activities have been taking place across the Asia-Pacific region, culminating in mass-participation events at numerous sites, across multiple countries, on 3 May.
Now in its third year, Habitat Youth BUILD 2014 builds on last year’s success that involved more than 100,000 volunteers in seven countries across 42 sites. The campaign supported more than 700 low-income families.
Join the Habitat Youth BUILD 2014 community on Facebook – facebook.com/groups/habitatyouthbuild.
