Pass the Crayon

In this week's World News Roundup, learn how one cent really CAN make a difference💰🕊️; what happened when Mahmoud visited the Dalai Lama 🕉️; and the heartbreaking story of young Iraqi boy, Othman.

Supported by safe spaces, Rohingya refugees show off their creativity on International Youth Day

On August 12th, children living in the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, celebrated International Youth Day. The children along with the local Bangladeshi community collaborated on an exhibition named, 'Safe Spaces for Youth'. The exhibition involved artwork and multiple creative activities, including a play on the theme of sexual harassment, which was performed by a group of young people for the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake!

Read the full UNFPA article here

12-year-old Tahera, pictured alongside her painting that shows a Safe Space for Youth. Image via UNFPA

UNICEF statement: Does anyone care? Cruelty against children continues.

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When student, Katrina Cassel, flew ✈️all the way from America 🍔 to intern with Pass the Crayon 🖍️, we were amazed not just by the fact that a 17-year-old had the passion to spend their whole summer holiday volunteering halfway across the world 🤯, but by how much she contributed during her stay.

Katrina became heavily involved in organizing and delivering our weekly art workshops at the Weissensee and Pankow shelters. She also helped out at numerous other events, including the recent Weissensee Sommerfest and WelcomeCamp 2018. Katrina's positive energy, poise and maturity made her a hit with the PTC team, and most importantly, with the children at the shelters. Her fluency in German really came in handy when communicating with the kids, enabling her to forge close relationships in a short space of time. This aspect of volunteering was what Katrina valued the most - the chance to meet, to understand and build connections with these children.

With her impressive polit...

In this week's World News Roundup, discover the five simple steps that governments can take to improve the education system for refugee youth; learn the tragic reason why the Somalian government is finally saying 'NO' to FGM; and find out how a young Swedish student saved an asylum seeker from deportation. ✈️ + 📱 = ✊

"The prosecution of those involved in Deeqa’s [death] will send a strong message to the country. This is really a defining moment for Somalia.”

- Somalia deputy prime minister, Mahdi Mohamed Gulaid

Death of 10-year-old girl prompts first FGM prosecution in Somalia's history

Somalia has the highest rate of FGM in the world, with 98% of girls and women still undergoing the highly dangerous procedure. Young girls normally undergo FGM between the ages of five and nine, often being cut by untrained midwives using dirty glass, razors or knives. This leads to lifelong health problems, extreme pain and discomfort, risk of infection, and in extreme cases, death. 10-year...