Former Miss World, Manushi Chhillar, who is gearing up to make her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the period drama Prithviraj, has been roped in by UNICEF for a youth campaign that aims to envision youth of India.
Speaking about the initiative, YuWaah, Manushi says, “Youth are like a spark that can light lamps. We are the future, and whatever we sow today, we are going to reap a lot more of it in the future. India has more than 300 million young people, and by preparing them for the transition to work, the potential for India’s progress would be unlimited.”
Manushi lays down the roadmap to achieve important goalposts for India’s transformation by actively engaging the youth from here on. “There is an urgent need to connect young people to 21st century skills and livelihood opportunities, while engaging them as change-makers effectively. Young people bring fresh ideas and a new outlook to the most pressing problems, and we need to provide them with platforms to take their ideas forward,” she explains.
Sharing her experience, Manushi, who was crowned Miss World in 2017, adds, “This is something I experienced in my life, where everyone would bring forward an idea — no matter how big or how small, and organisations that have the necessary resources to enable these ideas will step up to support. This will not just help the society at large, but also be a learning experience for that young person.”
Manushi now wants the young to be the decision-makers, especially about their lives. “For far too long, adults have made the decisions for young people, and the time is now to involve them in decision-making, especially about them and their future,” she signs off.
