Watch: Young Indonesians Interview UN Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand on National Children’s Day

Does the fact we have only explored 5% of the ocean scare you? Have you faced any difficulties in your workplace because of your gender? And do you think the pandemic will end soon?

Those are just three of the questions UN Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand fielded over a series of interviews with 10 Indonesian children and teenagers ahead of National Children’s Day, or Hari Anak Nasional, this week.

Published on social media on July 22, 23, and 24, the series offers young Indonesians the chance to find out more about the UN from its highest official in the country. “One of the things that struck me most was how unafraid these young people were to speak their minds,” says Julliand, “they asked intelligent, perceptive questions that got to the heart of what the UN does.”

The array of videos features children and teenagers aged between 7 and 17 posing questions on topics that range from their hobbies and school lives to domestic workers’ human rights, to how the UN is supporting Indonesia’s COVID-19 response.

Six of the participants were selected from the UNICEF-supported Mitra Muda youth network and the U-Report mobile engagement platform, which enable young people around Indonesia to speak out on issues that matter to them. The selected young people previously participated in capacity building trainings on 21st century life-skills and are leading initiatives and creating content that promote children’s rights in their respective communities.

The conversations with Julliand take some unexpected turns. An aspiring herpetologist’s introduction of his pet gecko leads to a discussion of the relationship between humans and animals. And after 15-year-old Alexis asks about gender-based violence, the pair reflect on our shared responsibility to act in the face of human rights violations.

That all the interviews are conducted remotely—by young people in Aceh, Sulawesi, Manado, and elsewhere—reflects the disruption the pandemic has imposed on the lives of Indonesian children and teenagers across the country. Many have been out of school for more than a year.

“This pandemic is hard on everybody, but it’s even harder for people your age,'' Julliand says in response to 10-year-old Raesha’s question about when it might end, “you, really, are the heroes of the pandemic.”