International Youth Conference
Elects Advisory Council
Nairobi/Leverkusen 30 August 2007 - The
election of a new Youth Advisory Council
today marked the culmination of the third
biannual Tunza International Youth Conference,
held in the German city of Leverkusen. The
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
conference brought together more than 180
young people from 85 countries to discuss
ways of promoting environmental awareness
through technology.
With two advisors for each of the six UNEP
regions (Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe,
Latin America and the Caribbean, North America,
and West Asia), the Council is a vital link
between UNEP and young people, as well as
providing a strong youth representation
in environmental conferences.
"I want to make the voices of young
people heard", said Sara Svensson,
from Sweden, a newly elected member for
Europe. "The Council is a place where
we can also share ideas on ways to have
a better future".
During its two-year mandate, which ends
at the next Tunza International Youth Conference,
the Council will advise UNEP on better ways
of engaging young people in its work, represent
their peers in international environmental
fora and increase youth involvement in UNEP's
work by informing young people in their
regions about UNEP's programmes for youth.
The new Council brought together six young
men and six young women, who are heavily
involved in environmental activities in
their respective countries. The gender balanced
Council was elected by the participants,
aged 15 to 24, at the end of the five-day
conference (August 26 to 30), which was
hosted at the headquarters of Bayer, the
largest sponsor of UNEP's children and youth
activities.
The new Tunza Youth Advisory Council members
are: Adel Rahmani (Algeria), Margaret Koli
(Kenya), Wang Fengzhu (China), Jessie James
L. Marcellones (Philippines), Sara Svensson
(Sweden), Dmitri Tasmali (Turkey), Gabriela
Almeida Monteiro (Brazil), Handy Acosta
Cuellar (Cuba), Caitlin MacLeod (Canada),
Thomas Christian (USA), Zainab Humdain (Bahrain)
and Jamal Alfalasi (United Arab Emirates).
"The conference was very interesting.
It gave me the opportunity to meet people
with the same interests and I learned a
lot on how to address environmental problems
within my community and with my government's
help", said Gabriela Almeida Monteiro.
"In Brazil, we have problems regarding
clean energy. Here, at the conference, we
visited a windmill and this will help us
develop a similar project and present it
to the government for adoption," she
added.
The Tunza Youth Advisory Council, launched
in 1999, also helps to supervise the implementation
of the pledge and commitments made at the
conference.
At this year's conference, with the theme
'Technology in service of the environment',
the delegates expressed their concern in
their pledge with the "social impacts
of environmental degradation, and the global
and regional distribution of environmental
threats upon vulnerable communities".
Adding that they were "aware of the
implications of inequality and the need
for environmental reform", they pledged
to advocate "environmental justice
in our work and the work of the Tunza network,
and lobbying decision makers, UNEP and its
governing council to protect, empower and
support these groups."
They also asked the new Advisory Council
members "to use our pledge as a basis
for their work in advising UNEP and representing
youth."
Pledge of the Tunza Conference for Environmental
Justice
"We, the youth gathered in Leverkusen,
are concerned with the social impacts of
environmental degradation, and the global
and regional distribution of environmental
threats upon vulnerable communities.
We are aware of the implications of inequality
and the need for environmental reform.
We envision a world wherein environmental
benefits and natural resources are equitably
distributed, and access to information and
participation in decision making are enjoyed
by all.
We call for the support of vulnerable communities,
including small island states and less developed
countries, women, and indigenous groups.
We commit ourselves to advocating Environmental
Justice in our work and the work of the
Tunza network, and lobbying decision makers,
UNEP, and its governing council to protect,
empower, and support these groups.
We ask the incoming TYAC to use our pledge
as a basis for their work in advising UNEP
and representing youth.
As we consider the state of the planet
that we will inherit, we stand together
to address the challenges of our generation.
We wish to pass our children a fair and
sustainable world; we know the problems
and we know the solutions: the time to act
its now.
We want environmental justice, and we want
it now."
Tunza Youth Advisory Council members
Adel Rahmani (Algeria), born in 1987, is
a member of the LE SOUK Association, where
he works on environmental education. He
has organized environmental awareness campaigns
for students. In June 2007, Adel organized
an excursion for 200 children from the Algiers
hospital to a dam where they learned about
the importance of conserving and protecting
water.
Koli Margaret (Kenya), born in 1987, is
a member of the Youth Environment Network-Kenya
where she helps to organize youth workshops
to create environmental awareness. She has
helped to create a strong network of young
environmentalists in Nairobi.
Wang Fengzhu (China), born in 1986, is
a member of the Green Association of HZAU
(Huazhong Agricultural University), in Wuhan
City, and of the Green Long March and the
Northeast Asian network of TUNZA. She wants
to be involved in the creation of a sustainable
environment youth network in the Asia Pacific
region. Her favourite quote is "Let
our green dream fly".
Jessie James L. Marcellones (Philippines),
born in 1986, is a member of the Boy Scouts
of the Philippines (BSP) and is a Bayer
Young Environmental Envoy-Philippines, where
he helps to implement environmental protection
activities among the people of Luzon, Visayas
and Mindanao.
Sara Svensson (Sweden), born in 1984, is
the vice-chair and project officer of Youth
and Environment Europe (YEE), a federation
of 60 youth environmental organizations
in 30 countries in Europe. She is also the
international secretary of the Swedish organization
Fältbiologerna (Nature and Youth Sweden)
and active at the local level in the same
organization.
Dmitri Tasmali (Turkey), born in 1987,
is a member of the International Chain of
Awareness (ICA), with whom he works to raise
awareness about the major environmental
issues, organize conferences for school
students and ensure the implementation of
decisions taken.
Gabriela Almeida Monteiro (Brazil), born
in 1985, is a member of AIESEC, an International
Student Association. She works in Salvador,
Brazil, and has taken part in the Earth
Charter Youth Initiative. She intends to
initiate a project within AIESEC to raise
environmental awareness among poor communities
in her city and introduce the values and
principles of the Earth Charter.
Handy Acosta Cuellar (Cuba), born in 1985,
is a member of the biggest NGO in his country,
ProNATURALEZA. He is also a member of the
National Coordination Group of the Cuban
Youth Environmental Network, where he promotes
TUNZA and UNEP strategies and projects.
He coordinates and belongs to the Clean
up the World Campaign in Havana.
Caitlin MacLeod (Canada), born in 1986,
is a member of the Quebec Public Interest
Research Group(QPIRG), an organization focusing
on social and environmental justice issues
where she works as coordinator of the Campus
Climate Challenge (CCC) in Montreal. She
is also involved with the Sierra Youth Coalition,
a national network engaging youth in working
toward sustainability.
Thomas Christian (USA), born in 1987, is
Regional Director for 2020 Vision, a non-profit
organization that focuses on energy security,
oil addiction and climate change in the
United States, with whom he organizes events
and raises awareness in Georgia and the
Southeast.
Zainab Humdain (Bahrain), born in 1987,
is the Vice President of Environmental Citizenship
Program ECP in Manama, which communicates
the values of the Earth Charter and works
towards sustainable development by delivering
workshops for schools, kindergartens and
orphan care centres. She also organizes
events and campaigns addressing several
pressing environmental issues in Bahrain,
such as reclaiming land from the ocean,
climate change and other themes. Her favorite
quote is "You must be the change you
want to see in the world" by Mahatma
Gandhi.
Jamal Alfalasi (United Arab Emirates),
born in 1987, is an Environmental Awareness
officer, working under the Environmental
Education Project for the Knowledge and
Human Development Authority, in Dubai. The
Environmental Education Project aims to
increase awareness about environmental issues
facing Dubai, and help promote environmentally
friendly living.
About the Tunza programme:
The Tunza programme, endorsed in 2003, is
a comprehensive six-year strategy to promote
the participation of children and youth
in every part of the world in environmental
activities. It focuses on four thematic
areas: awareness building, capacity building,
information exchange and facilitating the
involvement of young people in environmental
decision making.
Other activities of the Programme include
regional and sub-regional seminars and workshops
in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Latin
America and the Caribbean, plus a quarterly
magazine for and by young people entitled
Tunza, an annual International Children's
Painting Competition and an environmental
illustrated series for children.
The event in Leverkusen follows conferences
in Dubna, Russia, in 2003 and Bangalore,
India, in 2005. It alternates every year
with the Tunza International Children's
Conference which took place last year in
Putrajaya, Malaysia, and will be held in
Stavanger, Norway, in June 2008.
Note to Editors:
For more information on the 2007 conference
and the Tunza programme, please visit:
Tunza International Youth Conference Website:
http://www.tunza2007.unep.bayer
UNEP Tunza International Youth Conference
Website: http://www.unep.org/tunza/youthconference/
Podcast by Mr. Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive
Director: Young Environmentalists: http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.asp?ct=podcast-list&l=en
UNEP: Eric Falt, Director, UNEP Division
of Communications and Public Information
