Hawke's Bay youth to take part in first national Rise For Lives peace walk
Hawke's Bay may be more than 14,000km away from Yemen, but that isn't stopping a group of passionate youth from taking to the streets to call on governments to take action over the humanitarian crisis currently facing the war-torn country.
Rise for Lives is a youth-led peace and human rights movement which has organised marches in nine cities around New Zealand this weekend. It was founded by Hamilton-based 19-year-old Timi Barabas in New Zealand in early August 2020 with the hope to inspire people to stand up in unity for peace in war-torn countries like Yemen.
According to Unicef, the Yemen crisis is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with more than 24 million people - some 80 per cent of the population - in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 12 million children, since conflict escalated in March 2015.
Rise for Lives Hawke's Bay representative Willow Noome said: "The youth of New Zealand have decided to wait no longer".
“Yemen is in downright turmoil and we are bringing attention to it. The time is now. I am proud to promote peace and make the innocent voices of Yemenis heard."
Noome joined the movement in August last year, becoming the first Hawke's Bay representative. Since then, Meg Higgs has become the other representative, and the team has grown by another five people including Abbey Craig, Kim Sab, Zahra Abdullah and Caitlin Wilson.
"I joined the Rise For Lives movement as I am passionate about human rights. The situation in Yemen is devastating and it is incredibly rewarding to work towards literally saving their lives.
"It has been a challenging but certainly rewarding task to organise the first national peace walk in New Zealand. I hope to see many people there supporting and promoting awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen."
She anticipates up to 100 people of all ages will attend the walk on Saturday. But regardless of the numbers, Noome says it is "just the beginning".
"This walk is the beginning of more national peace walks and events in New Zealand in 2021. The movement now also has global members and more and more people from all around the world are showing interest in joining."
They have created a Give A Little page, a petition and are working with Save The Children to provide humanitarian assistance in Yemen. So far, Noome says Amnesty International has gifted them $2000 to help with this.
"I am proud to stand together with the youth of New Zealand to promote peace on a national level."
The walk will take place on Saturday, February 27 at 11am from the Hot Chick, Ahuriri, and end at the Napier Sound Shell where there will be guest speakers, dancers and live music. Participants are encouraged to bring sings.
For more information visit: www.riseforlives.org and https://fb.me/e/5SJ8AtlzZ
