By Yu Yu Aung
What can you achieve in one short week? Plenty, according to young people who ran a large drug use prevention campaign among their peers in Myanmar during early January, 2018.
The landmark campaign held in the country’s four biggest cities took place under an adolescent engagement program being implemented by UNICEF in Myanmar, with the support of Pearson. The UPSHIFT program supports adolescents to become social innovators in their communities, through trainings in 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration and team work, problem solving and creativity.
Throughout 2017, young people around the country were introduced to skills that helped them work together to identify problems and challenges in their communities, and consider potential solutions.
Drug use was a top problem affecting young people, according to the adolescent groups.
Their assessments matched the findings of research. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), heroin and opium use is widespread in Myanmar, which is the second-largest opium producer in the world and a major producer of methamphetamines. Drugs are not hard for adolescents to access, and drug use is one of the main reasons for children coming in contact with the law, violence and crime.
Myanmar has made decreasing substance use a priority area in its Five Year Strategic Plan for Young People’s Health, and in its National Youth Policy.
Since so many adolescent groups around the country agreed that drug use was a priority, they decided to join forces to tackle it.
First, UNICEF organized a three-day training for volunteers in 2017 on “New Generation Leadership in Substance Use Prevention.”
Adolescents from around the country learned how to work together effectively to plan and implement a campaign on preventing drug and substance use. As part of the diverse activities, teams learned the skills to map key local stakeholders such as school head teachers, members of township education departments, officials from the Department of Social Welfare, township committees for drug abuse control, and members of parliaments.
Two adult mentors from UNICEF and AHEAD, a youth-led CSO working on adolescent development, provided guidance.
The adolescents went on to form a core team of committed volunteers, and that group appointed focal persons for each township who formed sub-teams of volunteers in their areas.
The core team decided the campaign would be called ‘Drug and Alcohol Facts Week.’
During the week in January a total of 243 volunteers (224 adolescents below the age of 20) in Yangon, Mandalay, Taunggyi and Mawlamyaing joined three-day leadership trainings in preventing substance use in their communities. Then all those volunteers fanned out to share their knowledge over a number of days with children in multiple local schools.
The initiative was the largest focused drug-education event led by adolescents and youth in Myanmar, and an estimated up to 57,666 adolescents (29,747 boys and 27,952 girls) aged between 10 to 15 years benefited.
Reflections
After the busy campaign week of learning and sharing, volunteers shared their experiences and challenges during a review session and in short written questionnaires.
“Adolescent groups became more connected; not just within their own townships but also with groups from other places,” reported Theint Theint Thu, 19, female township coordinator for Mawlamyaing in Mon State.
Volunteers felt that the activities had triple benefits. First, the volunteers themselves gained knowledge about drugs as well as skills such as self-respect, team-work, and problem solving. Second, the children and adolescents they reached out to gained useful information on one of the biggest problems facing youth in Myanmar. Third, the volunteers became role models for younger people. By demonstrating how young people can contribute to society and become change-makers, they showed everyone that ‘adolescents can do it’.
“Many of our core volunteers joined up after being inspired by our activities last year. Similarly, I believe many of those we reached this year will join us next time,” said Aye Eindray Maung, 18, female township coordinator for Taunggyi in Shan State.
Looking ahead
The drug use prevention campaign was a first step towards more and bigger campaigns on different issues in future.
Violence against children is another area identified as a priority by adolescents, an assessment that matches UNICEF country priorities. Other areas include sexual and reproductive health, and domestic violence, said Hein Htet Aung, 19, the lead coordinator of the drug use prevention campaign.
“The campaign’s success means we have all become more confident and motivated to do more social projects,” he said.
He noticed one other unexpected outcome. “Volunteers are encouraging each other not to smoke, since we are now role models for others. This is another benefit of our activities!”
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