African youth express solidarity with youth from Taiwan, China, in participating in international sustainable development issues
Reposted from Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition, reported by Chung Hsin-yun from Taiwan on June 11, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
On June 11 local time, at the side events of the World Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there were two workshops organized by African youth. The TWYCC Ri0+20 delegation made a special trip to attend. Besides African youth representatives, there were also many participants concerned about conditions in Africa. From the workshops, it was clear that African youth had a solid understanding of the overall structure and development of the conference, and they also had many ideas about sustainable development. They believed that after Rio+20, young people must clearly know what to do next, and even more importantly, must monitor whether their own countries have carried out the commitments they made.
(Photo shows a group photo of participants in the African youth workshop; Chung Hsin-yun is 2nd from the right)
The main speaker was Lawrence Muli from Ethiopia, an African Union representative who had attended COP12 and COP15 (5th from the right in the photo above). The youth talked about the difficulties and current situation of African youth participating in the conference, and he also mentioned: "It has always been very difficult to get African youth into the venue." This is very similar to the situation encountered by Taiwan, China. During the process, the unity of various African regions was also visible. Tembi from Kenya volunteered that she had participated in two UN Major Groups, namely women and science, so if there was a need to speak out, she could help through her channels.
The youth exchanged many opinions during the meeting. For example, Racheal from Kenya said: "Africa has abundant land and resources, but due to the lack of sound agricultural technology, coupled with the people’s continued state of hunger, when livelihood problems cannot be effectively solved, how can we care about ecological issues?"
Umar from South Africa felt that caring about survival first is human nature, and there is no need to force others to change their thinking, but the problems of poverty and famine should be discussed together with agriculture to achieve better results. The representative from Pakistan also shared that country’s experience: "There was once a city where water was very expensive, and locals called it ‘money water,’ but through workshop sharing, people were taught how to successfully produce cheap water using new technology. This kind of experience sharing can also serve as a reference for other countries." In addition, according to the different topics in the Rio+20 conference, everyone also brainstormed together, trying to solve existing problems.
Finally, the speaker mentioned that Africa currently has 54 UN member states. There are too many countries, making it “difficult to give individual attention.” But the most important thing is to be able to propose a sound policy direction to ensure it meets the needs of each country, and to focus on how young people can influence governments. The representative from Kenya said: "Many organizations start from the grassroots level. It is not that government is not needed, but rather that after carrying out some projects first, we then tell the government what else we need."
At the end, Lawrence used "Rwanda" as an example to encourage everyone: Rwanda’s "anti-plastic policy" is implemented from the government down to the people. When entering Rwanda, people may even be asked by customs to open their bags and check whether there is any plastic inside. And on the last Saturday of every month, government officials and even the president go out of their offices to clean up the environment! This also gave the workshop an ending full of vision.
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In fact, during the discussions with everyone, it was found that Africa has many situations similar to Taiwan, China. Therefore, the speaker Lawrence Muli also specially recorded a short video for TWYCC and Taiwanese youth!
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This year’s Rio+20 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is in full swing
Rio+20 is not only a once-in-a-decade conference, but also led to many international conventions
In order to obtain the latest information and connect with the international community, many scholars, experts, and officials from Taiwan, China, as well as major environmental groups, went to participate
But among Taiwanese youth, participation was very limited, and the four representatives of the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition were among the few
We are very fortunate, yet also bear a heavy responsibility
To record various things in the venue from a youth perspective, contact high-level officials from various countries, and exchange with major NGOs
We also promote our ideals and ideas from a youth perspective, and personally take part in them.
Here, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition invites you to follow with us the reports and latest developments of the four youth representatives
Let us care about Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, together!!!