With an aim to encourage adolescent boys and girls to become change agents of the society, a State level convention of adolescents was organized by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Government of Odisha in collaboration with Unicef and UNFPA on the occasion of the World Children's Day on November 20.

Around 3,000 adolescent boys and girls along with several dignitaries participated in the convention which also saw the launch of a logo for ADVIKA - a programme launched by the WCD last year to empower the adolescent girls with life skills.

The programme is now expanding to include and educate adolescent boys for greater gender equality and equal opportunities.

WCD Minister Tukuni Sahu attended the convention along with Principal Secretary, WCD Department Anu Garg, Director, WCD Department, Aravind Agrawal, Unicef Odisha Chief, Dr Monika O Nielsen, UNFPA State Coordinator Mohammad Nadeem Noor, advisor to WCD Department Sulata Deo, Chairperson, OSCPCR Sandhyabati Pradhan, Olympian athlete Dutee Chand, and cine celebrity Bhumika Dash.

The event commenced with the welcome address from Director, WCD Agrawal. Congratulating the team involved in the implementation of ADVIKA which has now completed one year, Minister, Sahu stated, "So far around 10 lakhs of adolescent girls have benefitted from ADVIKA and efforts are being made to reach more. As a result of ADVIKA interventions, many child marriages have been stopped and many villages are now child marriage free." She also said the Ashirbad Yojna and other proactive programmes of the Odisha Government for children and adolescents are working to support disadvantaged children, orphans, minimize dropout rates, encourage girl children for education, school transformation, and encourage adolescents to become agents of change for social transformation. 

The convention also witnessed the launching of 'Sakha-Bandhu', a male peer leaders group to promote involvement of boys in ADVIKA. Sakha-Bandhu would be similar to the female peer leaders group for girls called 'Sakhi-Saheli' which has significantly contributed to Advika’s success in the past one year. 

Interacting with adolescents, Garg said, "To make the society child marriage free, adolescent boys and girls should join hands."

 Nielsen said, “Young people and adolescents can bring about change no matter where they live. They have the right to participate in the decisions related to their lives and futures."