Juhi Adhikari is a final year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) student at Tribhuvan University in Nepal. She has a keen interest in the issues of girls and young people, especially in providing them with a secure environment to express themselves and their experiences. She currently serves as an International Youth Advisory Board Member at Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP), a participatory international action research project that engages youths in policy advocacy through arts-based practice. She believes art can be a powerful tool for social change and empowerment. She serves as a lead for the Youth Advisory Advocacy Research(YAAR) forum in Nepal. YAAR is a group of 25-30 young girls from diverse marginalized communities in Nepal whose aim is to represent a youth voice that supports larger NGOs and INGOs to understand the perspective of the youth on development and policy issues in Nepal. She strives to empower young girls to speak out, to facilitate intergenerational dialogue so that policymakers understand the issues young people face, and to contribute meaningfully to society and work towards a future where all individuals are valued and heard.

OMLAS Project: Growing up in Kalaiya, Bara Madhesh province of Nepal, a multi-layered and marginalized area, Juhi had never witnessed young people and local stakeholders sharing the stage at public events. The region has traditional and conservative conflict resolution mechanisms where young people, especially girls, are not given meaningful space to participate in the process and are not allowed to voice their opinions on social issues and policies that impact them. In conflict resolution at the societal level, decisions are mostly made by men and adults. In a society where social and decision-making structures discriminate against women, young girls are not given the opportunity to take part in social conversations and become leaders. As she came from a society, where girls aren’t given a voice and the simple right to take part in decision-making, she realized women are far behind in her community and since then she have always dreamt of empowering young girls by amplifying their voices, building their capacity to engage in economic activities, and fostering them to be financially independent.

Importance of choosing girls as champions and Boys as Solidarity Members:
 
By selecting girls as Champions and boys as solidarity members, Juhi's project challenges entrenched gender stereotypes and biases, demonstrating that girls can excel in various fields, whether economically or environmentally, and serve as powerful role models in the community. Boys, as support, enhance leadership abilities and ensure that girls have equal opportunities to contribute to development initiatives. The involvement of girls in these projects reflects diverse perspectives and innovative solutions. Importance of working on Climate and gender issues:
 
The issue of the climate crisis is not “gender neutral”. Women all around the globe face severe consequences of climate change. Women are typically more likely to be negatively affected by the impacts of climate change and access to power and resources than men. Women, men, girls, and boys are therefore differently affected by, and find different ways of coping with and adapting to, disaster and climate impacts. Juhi’s project aims to harness young people's power to advance the agenda of gender and climate Justice through youth-led activism and response actions. She aspires to empower public school girls to learn vocational and entrepreneurial skills on how to make local, organic products using eco-friendly practices leaving no carbon footprints behind. Juhi envisioned finding small ways to make economically independent young girls seeking to manage their finances on their own.