1 million global youth called to support sustainability
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) is a partner for the One Million Youth Action Challenge (1MYAC) which was launched by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at Rhone Glacier / River, Switzerland on Tuesday, August 24.
A CHALLENGE has been set for a million young people around the world to practically act for a sustainable future by a new Swiss initiative.
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) is a partner for the One Million Youth Action Challenge (1MYAC) which was launched by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at Rhone Glacier / River, Switzerland on Tuesday, August 24.
SDC is the official Swiss Government agency responsible for international development activities including humanitarian aid with an annual budget of 1.5 billionUSD. It has been actively promoting the voice and role of youth regarding a sustainable future and in particular addressing climate change at the international level since 2015.
During the launch young people, already members of 1MYAC, were exposed to l the impact of climate change. They got to walk into a cave carved into the glacier and carried out a symbolic act of sending a message to the world down the Rhone river.
The stunning Rhone glacier is a particularly important location to show young people the impact of climate change as it has retreated several kilometres over the years. The glacier is also the source of the Rhone River which has seen its level fall impacting domestic, commercial and agricultural water supplies.
SDCEA said it was happy to be a part of such a huge youth environmental initiative that will help youth to create change within their environment.
“1MYAC has been a great motivation and influence for the youth of SDCEA in that it has helped us refresh our interest in new and improved activism strategies. After listening to the presentation Maria, a spokesperson of 1MYAC has enlightened our youth to improve our motives and goals. With every activity, we did from that day forward we used some of the examples she gave us to rope in more youth in terms of capacity building. It would be great to be involved in more of 1MYAC activities and future meetings,” said SDCEA youth member, Tristan Meek.
1MYAC has also been invited to participate in a range of high profile events where young people will engage with leaders and policymakers.
There are three actions required to follow to be a part of this global project. This includes choosing and committing to one of the proposed practical actions related to the four targeted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the Agenda 2030, implement the action either as a group or as an individual and upload evidence on to the 1MYAC website of the successful implementation and allow for checking by peers (mainly for collective actions).
SDC is part of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). 1MYAC has been initiated by SDC’s Global Programme Water (GPW) and its thematic water network called ‘RésEAU’.
