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Annual campaign rallies young people to speak out, raise funds, and build decent homes
Manila, 21 April 2017 – Habitat for Humanity’s youth-focused campaign “Habitat Young Leaders Build” exceeds its target to mobilize about three million supporters across Asia-Pacific to donate their time, effort, and voices to advance the cause of decent housing.
Following the April 22 culmination of Habitat’s largest youth movement and the end of this year’s activities, Habitat would have raised over US${esc.dollar}1 million to assist 7,500 families in the region.
“The lack of decent shelter and basic community infrastructure such as functioning toilets manifest the degree of poverty in the region. More than 800,000 people in the Asia-Pacific region live without decent shelters. Socially aware youth who are today’s leaders are contributing to housing solutions and influencing others,” said Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific Vice President for Habitat for Humanity International.
Habitat will invest in the young people of Asia and the Pacific by nurturing the leadership skills of one million youth by 2020 through a new Habitat for Humanity Young Leaders Build Leadership Development Program.
Young Leaders Build’s four pillars of youth engagement - advocacy, fundraising, awareness-raising and volunteering - have each attracted the support and commitment of collaborating partners at various points in the five-month campaign. Among these partners are Asian Development Bank (ADB) Youth for Asia, World Youth Alliance, One Meralco, the Scouts, Samsung and the Center for Creative Leadership, who helped particularly in implementing awareness and leadership activities to engage the youth in countries such as the Philippines, India, Nepal, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Since the launch of Habitat Young Leaders Build 2017 last December, 18 national organizations across Asia-Pacific and their volunteers have organized house construction and repair, community clean-ups, school repair, street fundraising as well as held awareness raising activities, training on hygiene and proper sanitation and advocating for decent housing on social media.
Join the Habitat Young Leaders Build community on Facebook bit.ly/HabitatYLB. Post on social media with the hashtag ${esc.hash}HabitatYLB. Follow on Instagram @HabitatYLB.
