In association with the Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC), Instagram announced a new edition of their flagship youth program – the Counter Speech Fellowship in Siliguri. The program will engage young people on topics that matter to them and encourage them to lead conversations about them online.
The Counter Speech Fellowship engages creative teenagers to use the power of visual storytelling to start meaningful conversations on issues that are important to young citizens around the world. The fellows have gone on to start non-profits like the Global Voluntary Action network, worked with organizations like Nyaaya that focus on legal rights, and the Queer Muslim Project that advocates for LGBTQIA rights in the last year. Now, the 2022 fellowship will focus on four themes: Gender Equality, Diversity, Bullying, and Mental Wellbeing.
The overall duration of the fellowship is two months and has been designed as a virtual engagement for the past year. All sessions will be conducted online and the program is open to all 13 to 18-year-old students currently enrolled in a school in India. The last date for applications is May 13th, 2022. Instagram also announced the rollout of a feature called ‘Take a Break’ that will show up for people, when they have been scrolling for a certain amount of time.
The Co-Founder of YLAC Rohit Kumar said, “We are very excited about the continued partnership with Instagram to take this very important initiative to more young changemakers in India.”
