Former student of St Dominic Savio’s High School Sharad Vivek Sagar would attend an international conference in the US and Senegal in March. Telegraph picture

Patna, Feb. 16: Sharad Vivek Sagar, a former student of St Dominic Savio’s High School in the state capital and founder-president of students’ organisation We Aim High, has been invited to an international conference that will take him to the US and Africa.

The meet — organised by Global Campaign Against Women And Child Abuse Organisation — would focus on violence against women and children, trafficking and forced labour. The first phase of the meet would be hosted in Swansea, Massachussetts, the US, between March 13 and 16. The second phase is scheduled to be conducted at Dakar, Senegal, from March 19 to 22.

Sagar, who aspires to be the first United Nations secretary-general from India, told The Telegraph: “The main theme of the conference is combating violence against women and children across the world. It aims to increase awareness about the incidents of violence and educate people about the high human costs of such actions.”

“I am really looking forward to take part in the event,” added the youth, also the Asia-Pacific regional ambassador for United Nations Environment Programme Tunza Eco-generation.

He said: “We refer to our country as Mother India. The future and the hopes of this country rest on the shoulders of the youth. But it is very depressing to learn from statistics that in our country, a woman is a victim of an atrocity or violence every 16 seconds. Around 17 million children work as underage labourers in India. Thousands of women and children are trafficked almost every month.

“I dream of a better India. That is, however, not possible without empowered and happy women and children. My organisation, We Aim High, has been working to create a better society since 2006. We have been advocating human rights and the need to create a confident young generation. I would share the success story of my organisation and future plans at the event.”

The youth also said he would utilise his public speaking skills to influence policy makers and global leaders.