A community of optimists hosted by Melinda French Gates

Faza is a young woman living in Indonesia. She loves watercolor painting, badminton, and mountain trekking. She also likes to enjoy her free time with her best friends, talking and discussing things she likes. She recently completed her bachelor degree program in criminal law, with a full scholarship. Faza is passionate about human rights, community development, gender equality, meaningful youth participation, and legal reform.

For almost six years, Faza was involved in a youth-led organization called ARI (Independent Young People Alliance), advocating for the rights of children and young people concerning health, education, and employment. In 2015, she joined Plan International Indonesia’s Youth Advisory Panel, where she works to ensure Plan International is accountable in upholding its vision and purpose for the realization of child rights and gender equality. By giving input and influencing Plan’s decision-making, she is helping Plan to better understand the reality for children and young people, and supporting Plan to increase its positive impact on children and young people, to further empower them. Meaningful participation in organizations working for children’s and youth rights and having an impact on others, particularly young people, means a lot to Faza and is something that she cherishes every day. Her work shapes who she is, and she believes that “we can only achieve bigger impacts if we can work together.”

Faza strongly believes that meaningful youth participation has value to empower and enlighten youth as current and future leaders. Young people have the right to participate in defining and shaping their lives. She always demands that youth have a voice in development practices and processes and makes sure that youth are understood to be central to all related issues, including economic growth, productive workforce (human resources), and economic and social development overall.