Just last week, a National Urgent Response (NUR) alert was circulated in Malaysia informing the public of yet another case of a missing girl, Fulmina Abdul Ghufur. The 11-year-old Myanmar national went missing on 15 February after she went to a shop and did not return home. A NUR alert is used to spread information quickly and as fast as possible to help trace missing children (below 12 years of age) who could be victims of crime or abuse.
In 2019, Zuraidah Daut, a social activist in the east coast state of Kelantan in Malaysia initiated an investigation into the mystery of a girl’s absence from school. What she discovered was appalling. The girl was too poor to buy sanitary products and missed out on days of school. This motivated the activist to start the “Projek Oh! Bulan” (Oh! Moon Project) where she would set empty boxes at grocery stores and salons for people to donate menstrual supplies for those in need.
Girls in developing countries must be protected from sexual violence in and around schools, the head of the United Nation's children fund (UNICEF) has said, urging governments to make it a top priority.Speaking on the side-lines of a G7 ministerial summit in Paris, UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said keeping young girls safe was crucial to ensuring their education."We have a real responsibility to keep violence out of schools...
