Global Humanitarian Youth Forum

Geneva, 17-19 June 2009

As part of the Young Adults 4 New Results competition, 100 young delegates from all over the world were chosen to participate in this stimulating youth forum on climate change. Leading up to the COP 15 UN Climate Change summit in December 2009, this was our opportunity to address concerns related to climate change policies and human security. Under the leadership of Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF), this 3 day conference was an innovative and inspiring platform in creating new ideas and solutions.

Before starting the GHF, I planned a visit to meet WILPF interns and friends Ilse Wermink and Josephine Tsui, who work in the UN Geneva office. At my first trip to Switzerland, it was enjoyable and useful meeting with WILPF women, which helped settle me in and find my way around the city.

The understanding of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) was vital in understanding the underlying difficulties in effective decision-making within the UN. On the first day, delegates participated in a Model UN formulation discussing projects for the Adaptation Fund.

Throughout the conference, we were inspired by guest speakers, followed by a brainstorming session which helped to map our final ideas by day three. Ideas were inputted on a laptop usually shared by three people, whereby the software enabled us to type in our thoughts, allowing others to rate ideas for approval. This system was a truly innovative way to allow everyone to participate without it being time consuming – this system of collecting ideas, I believe, was what made the conference such a success.

Guest speakers, who were the same age as us, played a key role in instigating ideas from the audience. Their apparent success in their field was not only a motivational tool but allowed us to fully explore our own potential and ideas. Presentations ranged from an all-rounded scientific, fictional, business, religious, marketing and grassroot point of view. It was interesting to have a religious panellist speaking about climate change using examples from different Holy Scriptures of human responsibility for the environment - a vivid reminder that we must act now to protect our world. Other speakers elaborated on how their initiative and products are eco-friendly and sustainable for both North and South continents.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had also graced us with his presence, with a stimulating talk motivating us to become future leaders and encouraging us to continue developing ideas at the forum so that these projects can be adapted internationally.

At last year’s Global Humanitarian Forum, the project “Weather for All” was chosen and developed. Presented by Moyenda Chaponda, the project has now been implemented on a large-scale basis in Africa, whereby weather stations and radio-wave transition towers have been set up to notify farmers with updated weather reports. Seeing this project brought to life has given us stimulus to push our ideas into working projects.

The Projects

Through brainstorming sessions, five initiatives have been developed:

*Alternative Green Algae Based Energy Initiative

The idea is to produce biofuel extracted from algae instead of using current food products for oil. The whole process from cultivation, extraction, transportation and use in engines of the biofuel is a carbon neutral process. The algae based system targets a production system that utilizes a desert like environment, salt water and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This will enable the empowerment of poor communities by giving them a chance to participate in the supply chain of the biofuel.

*Radio Information for Women and Children Initiative
The initiative proposes story-based programmes by and for women and children to educate about the human impact of climate change in West Africa. Radio in West Africa is very prominent. In villages across West Africa, people will gather around the radio to listen to their favourite programmes. TV is too expensive for the average family. Therefore, radio is an effective communication and education tool, especially because of its oral tradition.

*Seeds of Change Initiative
Green energy is a growing product, however, in many countries it is still very inconvenient to change an electricity plan as it involves vast research, paperwork and phone calls. This project aims to invite people to announce if they want to switch and give the “Seeds of Change” team the minimal personal and contact details required to liaise with the electricity retailer and change their plan to 100% green energy. A consumer would submit their minimal contact details to a website and the “Seeds of Change” team would arrange everything else until the signing of the contract.

*Raising Climate Change Awareness in Primary Schools Initiative
The initiative foresees the implementation of workshops, run by volunteers, in primary schools in the developing world. The initiative further encourages schools to found climate change clubs, launch art projects and create incentives for sustainable behaviour of the students.

The Speakers

Margot Hill, a PHD student on environmental studies, presented how climate change is having a negative impact of human security, illustrating her point with current examples of China’s water scarcity, the potential threat cities are faced with and the link between science and public communication on climate change need to be made clearer.

Daniel Sheridan, founder of PlayMade Energy Ltd, demonstrated how connecting business and development can be turned into a new global business opportunity. Daniel has created a seesaw that can generate and store electrical energy to run a small school. Powered by human energy, this renewable energy is providing children in the developing world with entertainment as well as electricity, encouraging the idea of “power through play.”

Presentation shared by Diana Vogtel from 350.org was very familiar to me. Working for a campaigning organisation, Diana exhibited examples of how everyday people have the power to get their voices heard by key decision-makers through media stunts, demonstrations, petitions and social youth networks across the world.

Novelist twins, Suresh and Jyoti Guptara were truly inspirational with how they are able to talk about climate change through fictional narration. People need to be inspired to change habits, to form a “green society” however, we have a tendency to wait on each other for actions. The twins asked us to think of climate change as aliens. The government will need to fight this alien invasion to keep its people safe. This simple example demonstrates how easy it is to turn a serious message into a more understandable format without sounding pessimistic, terrifying or too difficult to solve.

Katarzyna Okinczyc, founder of 60 Bag, has produced a bio-degradable bag made out of flax-viscose non-woven fabric. The lifespan of the product is between 1-6 months after use, raising awareness of materials used than thrown out into a landfill. Katarzyna also discussed ‘social sustainability’, passing on high quality products from one generation to another, a habit which is easily being lost with our consumerist society. More information can be found on www.dogenrol.com

Jake Goodman, from Euro RSCG Worldwide, stressed how word of mouth communication is the key power. Advertisers often do not follow corporate social responsibility policies however have creative solutions and opportunities for empowerment which can be replicated to climate change campaigns. Please visit www.timeforclimatejustice.org to record a “tck tck tck” message, which will be played at the COP15 summit.

Architectures Andre Schmid and Jonathan Nestler showed a terrifying exposé of the end damages caused by climate change. Although highly far-fetched, the picture demonstrates a future scenario of a floatable city complex with renewable energy as a life source. These trawling cities are innovated from ‘fish trawlers’ which already exist today however have been scaled up to create a brand new society. Examples of current government project to fish for oil was also shown, heightening our awareness on the need to act on climate change now.

Vote for me

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UNA-UK Conference

64th UNA-UK Annual Conference
Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh University, 5-7 June 2009

[Left: Talyn Rahman with Lord Hannay of Chiswick]

The United Nations Association hosted a three day conference, set in the heart of Edinburgh, which consisted of the themes of humanitarian affairs, climate change and UN policy-reforms. Chairman Vijay Mehta, and I attended as Action for UN Renewal’s (ACTUN) representative, where we had the opportunity to contribute to the structure of the United Nations Association (UNA) policy-making. Given the opportunity, I also acted to promote WILPF's youth wing, Y-WILPF to potential members and the youth group of UNA. During the trip, I met with new WILPF member Haley St.Dennis and former WILPF secretary Helen Kay, where we discussed the future of Y-WILPF and networking solutions cross-country.

DAY ONE

The UNA AGM was kept brief, with Lord Hannay’s report of the UN’s shortcomings and achievements over the last year. The campaign to ban cluster munitions has had a positive effect on the UK and international government, the outlook of climate change is being reflect and adopted by Gordon Brown and Barack Obama, and the UN’s main priorities for this year were discussed.

Sir John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General on Humanitarian Affairs, delivered the keynote speech for the conference, hosted by Alex Fergusson, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. Sir John spoke about the challenges facing the UN in its role as the world's humanitarian coordinator. In particular, reconciling the tensions between national sovereignty and international responsibilities were addressed, stating that the access for humanitarian assistance should be full and unimpeded. The world face a series of interconnected global trends which could transform the context of humanitarian work beyond recognition and which go beyond the ability of any state to deal with. Humanitarian agencies face criticism of acting at the behest of Western or Northern governments. In practice they cannot help representing and reflecting Western/Northern mindsets, and cultural, social and intellectual value, which is a problem. To reduce perception, agencies must try hard to achieve diversity in international ranks, have visibility on local NGOs, seek professional and strong NGO partners; respect by state and non-state alike.

[Right: Talyn Rahman with Vijay Mehta and Sir John Holmes]

Humanitarian is also threatened by the sensation of climate change. Sir John gave examples of natural and man-made disasters, and drew attention to the humanitarian consequences of climate change. So called mega trends are likely to drive up humanitarian needs by creating more poverty and vulnerability. This includes greater levels of inequality, higher unemployment, increased frequency and intensity of disasters, new kinds of conflicts, and major weather driven migrations. Combined, they threaten to create chronic vulnerability on a scale we cannot readily imagine now. Sir John also highlighted the food crisis and the current economic/financial crisis as a global crisis.

DAY TWO

The majority of Day Two consisted of reforming UNA’s policy commission. Such commissions included topics of: the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) & Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Humanitarian Action, UN reform, Peace & Security, and the promotion of multilateralism. The session was very fruitful, with engaging discussions of amendments and new applications of each policy. ACT-UN had the chance to speak about a few topics addressed, especially in concern with the MDGs and in WILPF's case, gender architect and women as peace-keepers of the UN. The plenary session was most useful in learning more about what UNA concentrates on in reflection to ACTUN’s work.

The plenary session was followed by a major climate change workshop, led by Trewin Restorick. Trewin, CEO of Global Action Plan, was one of Al Gore's UK climate change ambassadors. Climate change was a major theme at the conference. Delegates debated effective follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol at Copenhagen, the UK's climate change policy, refugee flows resulting from climate change impacts, conflict over resources and new technologies such as a solar power supergrid. Trewin highlighted many of Global Action Plan’s initiative in creating individual awareness on the effects of climate change, pulling further on what we can do. More information of initiatives can be found on: www.globalactionplan.org.uk.

Climate change awareness video, “The Age of Stupid” was screened as a following.

DAY THREE

The final day was brief, dealing with the business of UNA. A tribute to UNA members and UN staff were made. In a video message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked UNA-UK for its series of conferences on climate change, and called for ‘smart solutions’ to tie in the challenges of poverty and climate change.

I had the chance to speak on behalf of ACTUN to thank UNA for the invitation, and feed backing on the overall running of the conference.

Global Monitoring Checklist

GAPS (Gender Action for Peace and Security) launched an innovative Global Monitoring Checklist, a report on women, peace and security at the House of Parliament. The Global Monitoring Checklist monitors the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic Congo (DRC), Northern Ireland, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and makes recommendation on a more inclusive peace. WILPF was one of the many organisations to push the implementation of 1325, and we were delighted to be invited to celebrate the launch of a very important report. Marie-Clare Faray, WILPF executive member, contributed to GAPS research on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

UN Security Council Resolution 1325
http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf

With gender perspective in mind, there is a great gap in knowledge for women in conflict situations. Women are usually the first victim, suffering from domestic and systematic violence, where there is a lack of access to justice for criminalisation. In many societies, for example in Afghanistan, domestic violence is considered a private matter which further escalates cultural violence if the news is leaked. Women have lost certain position in politics and is challenged. The UN should set up a mechanism to make government accountable for their obligations.

The report is divided into country of interest and audience it is written for (NGO, policy makers etc) so the information can be utilised to its full potential. It provides practical information and recommendations which can be used to support national governments, the international community and national society actors in their work around peace and security.

For the launch, Lord Malloch Brown, the UK Minister for the United Nations (Africa and Asia), congratulated GAPs on its research and fully supported on strengthening the legislation of 1325 to countries mentioned in conflict. 1325 has attracted a strong constituency of support, however noted that further community pressure is required to action the resolution. Lord Brown emphasised that women's rights are universal rights like the freedom of speech, whereby women universally have the right to basic human rights to be properly protected. There were references to the need of gender relation; using sexuality as a tool of war, violence and oppression in certain situations.

Full report of the Global Monitoring Checklist can be found on: http://www.gaps-uk.org/img_uploaded/Global%20Monitoring%20Checklist%20full%20resource.pdf

The summary report is: http://www.gaps-uk.org/img_uploaded/Global_Monitoring_Checklist_Summary(1).pdf