Voices of the 18th OxHRF: The Power of Music - Championing Human Rights, Resilience and Aspirations.

“They can take our instruments and break them, but they cannot remove music from our hearts and minds”
EL Laskar writes: Our last two posts centred on the experiences of children and young people who get caught in the ravages of war. The emotional and physical toll on their development can be crippling. 1 in 4 of the world's children live in a disaster area or war zone and they are reported to be the first and most affected. The evidence points to the fact that despite all the work that individuals, agencies and governments are doing with children and young people, they are still the ‘invisible majority’. I invite you to take a moment away from reading and just think about the enormity of what has been shared.

It is not difficult to join the dots - children and youth are the future and therefore it is imperative that we listen to their voices, co-create spaces and support opportunities for healing, learning, aspiring and thriving.  As UNICEF points out, children and youth show remarkable resilience and they have power in their story telling. It is part of our responsibilities as a global community to stand in solidarity with them and help them to create a new narrative for themselves.

This year the festival exhibited a selection of photos from the Afghan Women’s Orchestra called ‘Zohra’ and invited Lauren Braithwaite, a DPhil student at the University of Oxford to speak at our opening event about the role of music in resilience. In 2017 Lauren became Artistic Director and co-conductor of the Zohra Women’s Orchestra and led the group on tours to India, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK. We introduce you to the stories of the brave young Afghan women musicians of Zohra.

Lauren Braithwaite writes: "The Zohra orchestra is a showcase of the resilience and determination of Afghan youth and women to continue fighting for their rights." 

Be yourself the change, the candle in the darkness

The UK ambassador to Lebanon highlights the work of CENDEP student Basma Eldoukhi

DEP Masters student Basma Eldoukhi writes:

This is a reflection of my experience volunteering to support vulnerable people in the community in this unprecedented period of time.

I always believe that as COVID-19 is very infectious, kindness, compassion, love and solidarity are more infectious in this sense, simply because we are humans. It’s our humanity and humility at the same time.

When I saw the NHS Volunteer Responder application advertisement, I applied without hesitation because I wanted to support and help people in the community I am living in. Because we are all in this together and as I always follow in my life this motto “If not me, who and if not now, when?"

Voices of the 18th OxHRF: ‘Gaza seen through the eyes of its children’

EL Laskar writes:

In our last blog, to commemorate Victory in Europe day, we shared snippets from the memoir of Mrs Prince who had been a child of war in Britain during the Second World War. We were thankful to have her story included in our exhibition this year. There were striking similarities in her story with some of the experiences of children in war zones today - abandonment, scarcity of resources, loss of loved ones, fear of being bombed and having a war zone as a playground.

As we mentioned in our last blog Rights of Children can often be overlooked and with approximately 415 million children growing up in war zones, global society needs to continue to invest in the protection and welfare of these children.

Voices from the OxHRF - '...everything was either dug up, covered up, or taken away’

Mrs Prince as a youth in a 'patch and make do' sash

EL Laskar writes: This weekend the UK has a public holiday to mark Victory in Europe Day, also known as VE Day. The nation is encouraged to mark the day with celebration in remembrance of the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945 - this marked the end of World War II in Europe. In this blog, and the two to follow, take the opportunity to share the voices and acknowledge the resilience of children and young people in war times.

When was the last time you took time out from watching the news to read the rights of children? According to UNHCR 70.8 million people are forced to flee their home, 25.9 million are refugees and half of the refugees are children. Today, approximately 415 million children grow up in a war zone. We stretch the banner of human rights but what does that mean for children that get caught up in wars, political turmoils and disturbances? What are their stories of resilience? And how can individuals, academics and organisations listen, understand and help care for their welfare as they make their journey into adulthood? Today we have global organisations like the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children who are dedicated to the protection of children and uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Voices from OxHRF - Made by Rohingya women for Rohingya Women

Leaving Myanmar (Copyright Shafiur Rahman)

[EL Laskar OxHRF Coordinator] In our last blog Dr Sana Murrani gave us an insight into her work with refugees and invited us to think beyond resilience. We contemplated whether a resilience lens limits our views and takes away from further inquiry into how we as individuals, academics, communities and institutions, can support individuals to thrive and move towards self fulfilment? 

Shafiur Rahman

In this blog we introduce the story of ‘Testimony Tailors’ through the eyes of Shafiur Rahman, a documentary filmmaker from the UK. Shafiur stumbled on the story of the Rohingya in 2016 in Bangladesh - what he witnessed took a deep bite into his spirit and changed his life forever. His journey started with listening to the story of one Rohingya woman who had crossed the border into Bangladesh to seek refuge. Today he continues to share the story of several women who survived horrific and brutal attacks on their homes and families in Myanmar. 

Previously known as Burma, Myanmar borders Bangladesh and India, China, Laos and Thailand.  Until recently it had been home to the Rohingha, most resided in Rakhine State and traced their roots back to the eighth century when coastal settlements were exposed to Arab traders.  Before the recent exodus there were around 1.2 million Rohingha living in Rakhine State. Since 2017 nearly 750,000 Rohingha have fled Myanmar.