Global Youth Forum on
Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions
15 June 2012, 11-13 hours, Mountain Pavilion (Pavilion I), Rio
de Janeiro (Brazil)
Over 50 youth representing all regions of the globe participated
in the Global Youth
Forum on Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions jointly held
by ICIMOD, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Mountain
Partnership at the Mountain Pavilion on 15 June 2012. The Global Youth Forum
opened a busy week of mountain related events to be held at the Mountain
Pavilion, a global initiative led by the government of Peru involving mountain
countries from around the world.
A video showing why mountains matter kicked off a series of
presentations on the importance of involving and mainstreaming the youth in the
negotiation process on the future we want.
Tek Jung Mahat (ICIMOD), Coordinator of the Asia Pacific Youth
Task Force on Rio+20, introduced the initiative starting back in 2009 –
affirming that over the years, it grew to host some of the largest youth
meetings on climate change and youth actions in the Asia Pacific. The Forum
would be a space to listen to the views of youth engaged in movements representing
Africa, South America, North and Central America and the Middle East, too. At
the end of the meeting, a Mountain Youth’s Appeal to Rio+20 would be handed
over to negotiators involved in the upcoming negotiating round.
Ivana Savic from UNCSD – one of the organizers of the Major
group on children and youth – presented her work in advancing youth
participation in sustainable development issues. “Young people need to be
involved as they care about the environment,” she said. Ivana went on to say that
“20 years from now, young people will ensure that changes are made.” However,
ensuring their participation requires energy, time, knowledge and resources.
“Investment is needed” Ivana concluded, “so they can have an active role in
sustainable development”.
Youth will face the consequences of the decisions taken by
decision-makers today and Sameera Zaib from Pakistan stressed the importance of
capacity building at the local, national and regional level. “Governments need
to involve the youth and include them in policy negotiations”, Sameera
remarked. As mountain youths face similar challenges, they need to work
together to find solutions.
Speaking for North and Central America, Nora Mahmoud reported on
her experience living in Costa Rica, a country known for its large biodiversity
and mountainous regions. With such rich biodiversity and high tourism levels,
“Costa Rica provides a unique example to prompt the youth to speak up as global
citizens – they need to embrace the opportunity to have a voice in the Rio+20
process.” Nora stressed the importance of face-to-face workshops to help youth
work towards community building and building awareness.
Juan Carlos Soriano presented his reflections as a South
American youth who grew up in Lima listening to his parents’ stories on the
beauty of the Peruvian highlands. Beautiful scenery, trees, orchards and
different fruits would often populate his grandmother’s stories. But when the
time finally came for Juan Carlos to take a walk with his dad, they found that
where there was snow, there were rocks and the land was barren. “In 25 years,
the landscape had changed. I did not immediately make the connection,” candidly
recognized Juan Carlos. “It wasn’t until later, when I studied several issues
around climate change, that I saw the light.” He added that when we talk about
water security, that means making sure that “our farmers are able to produce
enough food to not only feed their families but also make a living.” As UNCSD
Major Group on Children and Youth delegate, Juan Carlos worked on a campaign to
try to get governments to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. One trillion dollars
is going to oil companies that extract natural gas, putting CO2 in the
atmosphere and causing a lot of the problems that we have to deal with. “If they
diverted this sum to sustainable development,” he went on to add, “just think
of how much could be done!”
It was noted that that kind of phenomenon is at the root of one
of the problems currently being discussed in Rio. Not all places are like Rio
de Janeiro, where the mountains are close to the sea and a large city, so that
many diverse perspectives are possible. Many participants noted that youth
engagement in these Rio+20 negotiations would be quite crucial. As mountains
are not just an issue of mountaineers, the youth movement realized they would
have to have one person from the Asia Pacific region in the major groups as
well, for the mountain agenda to be addressed. As Kabita Gautam from Nepal
added, “It was felt that there should be more and more space for media people
so that the messages would resonate at the local level.”
The youngest youth participating in the event was TUNZA
Ambassador Basu Kehkashan from Dubai, who had just been awarded a prize for
their work on land degradation by the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertifation UNCCD. “Yesterday I attended a debate in a favela, “she said,
“and it was extremely inspiring to see how much children of the slums were
interested in sustainable development.” Basu spoke to them about how they could
make a difference. “Spreading awareness on children and youth is key for the
future we want,” Basu added, saying that “this way their children will not have
the same problems we are facing now.”
Jaya Jung Mahat – UN Youth Mobilizer for the UNDP sustainable
development dialogues – had been collecting voices from mountain youth,
especially from South Asia and Asia and the Pacific. As a result, he reported
that “ten different thematic topics were formulated, such as SD for poverty
reduction, energy, water, forests, oceans, etc.”. The main objective of the
UNDP SD dialogues was to make the process as inclusive as possible and
incorporate the issues on mountains and youth from the South Asia and Asia and
the Pacific region.
“There is a strong link between mountains and agriculture in
Africa”, said Jean Paul Brice Affana, working with the African Youth Initiative
on Climate Change (AYICC). Jean Paul explained how mountains in Africa are
resources for farmers; they are breadbaskets. Several efforts were made such as
raising awareness on why mountains matter at COP 16, two years ago. “If the ice
caps on top of the Kilimanjaro melted completely,” Jean Paul explained, “the
farmers who live there and their fields would have no water in the dry season.”
As most of the women practice agriculture, they had been involved in the work
of AYICC. Without selling their products, they could not send their children to
school. That explains the social dimension of sustainable development, on which
there is a growing need to generate awareness.
Shreejana from Nepal, reminded participants that mountains are a
global issue: “It’s not just about the highlands” she said, “but also the
lowlands. Let’s join our hands together and work for the mountains.”
A draft “Mountain Youth’s Appeal to Rio+20 delegates” was then
projected on the screen and shared with participants in the Youth Forum for
their views and suggestions. Based on key messages resulting from the major
youth workshops and meetings held in the past years, among its main deliverables
were: recognition of the importance of mountain goods and services;
compensation and reward mountain communities for their stewardship in managing
mountain goods and services; equitably share benefits; ensure maximum
involvement of groups such as youth, children, women and elderly population;
develop and run mechanisms offering education opportunities to youth; develop
Youth Council at Global/UN as well as regional levels, promote youth knowledge
network and parliament to significantly improve youth engagement; develop
provision of Green Youth Fund at UN, regional and national level to promote
environmental entrepreneurship promoting green economy for SD and poverty
eradication.
Suggestions included asking for incentives for green jobs,
youth-led entrepreneurial activities, especially as related to eco-tourism and
organic agriculture; engaging youth in mountain conservation training and jobs;
use specific key words that would attract the negotiators’ attention prompting
them to act.
In his concluding remarks, Mountain Partnership Secretariat
Coordinator Olman Serrano thanked the youth for their overview and engagement.
“Unlike my generation,” he observed, “you have powerful communication tools
such as social media – not only to get your message across but also to share it
with a larger, global youth community.” Youth are the future, Mr Serrano
concluded, “hence your involvement is key for the future we want.”
Daniel Maselli from the Swiss Agency of Development and
Cooperation (SDC) acknowledge the youth’s efforts and said it was important to
invest in youth as “youth are our asset”. Mr Maselli went on to encourage them:
“Keep your sharp thinking. Do not let yourselves be blurred. Do not abandon
your direction. Only thus will you achieve the future you want.”
Finally, ICIMOD Deputy Director General Madhav Karki noted how
economic development has moved from North to South, so the youth form the South
have much to contribute. “Youth have lots of hope in the future we all want,”
Mr Karki stressed. “There are challenges, however. In 1992, global leaders
committed to sustainable development. But when they returned home, they did not
practice what they had preached. Now, 20 years on, the world has become much
more unsustainable. We have biodiversity loss and increasing natural disasters.
Youth as future leaders need to take the opportunities and take on the
responsibilities.”
