Children unite to conserve environment

  1. Posted on Wednesday 18 June 2008 - 09:12
    mugira
    Image of mugira
    Mugira Fredrick, Africanews reporter in Uganda, Photo: Elles van Gelder
    A 13-year-old Cameroonian running clean-up campaigns and tree plantings is among 700 children from around the world attending a UN environment conference in Stavanger, Norway for children who are engaged in environment conservation in their communities.
    Children_Zimbabwe_Elles van Gelder
    Other remarkable children taking part in this conference include a 13-year-old Australian who is making a documentary called ‘A Kid’s Guide to Climate Change’, for which he interviewed a local indigenous leader, visited a wind farm and a wave generator, and built a model solar car, a 14-year-old Indian who is campaigning against water waste in his community and a 13-year-old American who has helped organize a recycling drive and collect 100,000 pounds of e-waste.

    The biannual Tunza International Children's Conference that runs from today till 21st June under the theme ‘Creating Change’ is one of the largest international children’s conferences in the world organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

    This year, in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, UNEP will show the inspiring initiatives of dozens of children from around the world through ‘My Story’, a series of short video clips.

    In a news release, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director says that, “the 700 children attending the Tunza conference are a powerful sign of the creativity, energy and dynamism that children are capable of to protect our planet. We can all learn from them, and we should all take heart in the fact that increasing numbers of children are becoming a force for positive change as we move towards greener lifestyles.”

    The Conference is organized by UNEP in partnership with the Norwegian NGO Young Agenda 21 with Bayer AG as one of the main sponsors, brings together children aged between 10 and 14 from more than 100 countries who are engaged in environmental issues. The aim is to increase their environmental awareness and equip them with skills to promote environmental projects in their communities.

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