URI Youth Ambassador Shazia Wahid, a young Pakistani woman from Quetta, knows what it’s like to face religious discrimination. She is a member of the Hazara tribe of Shi'a Muslims, the target of over 700 killings in the last six years, including a bomb blast that killed 73 people there in September. “Our community faces severe ethnic and sectarian discrimination which always puts a big question mark on our identity,” says Shazia. She formed Roots CC to bridge the religious divide among youth and mobilize them to serve their community. One of URI’s newest members, Roots co-hosted an International Youth Day 2010 celebration for youth of different religions and rallied to the aid of flood victims, helping register displaced people in Quetta camps and distributing supplies. It has attracted more than 350 youth in its first year.
