AYICC-K GIVES A PRESENTATION AT THE MERCY CORPS CONFERENCE
Antony giving a brief of what to expect during the presentation |
On Monday the 30th
of April 2013, AYICC-K was invited to give a presentation to the Mercy Corps regional
directors who were participating in an in house conference. This conference
brought together all the directors including the country director and the
assistant. This was a very interesting and challenging presentation first
because we were dealing with an audience which did not have an understanding of
what climate change is but was interested in taking part and playing a role in
its mitigation and secondly because we had to use 20minutes to make them
understand and convince them that it is worth playing a major role in its
mitigation and adaptation. AYICC-K was represented by Antony Ogolla, the Chief
Coordinator and Njeri Nancy who participated in the capacity not only as a
member of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC-K) ,but also as a communication intern
at the Kenya School of Government. The conference was geared towards fostering
cordial relations with AYICC-K and possible future engagements on tackling
climate change from the youth perspectives.
A section of the participants during the presentation |
Just to bring you up
to speed with this organization, African Youth Initiative on Climate Change
–Kenyan chapter is an umbrella organization which provides a platform for young
people to engage in various activities for personal growth and also towards
initiating sustainable developments and environmental conservation.
We hear about it,
other times see it and in extreme circumstances, have first-hand experience on
the adverse effects that come along with it. However; most of us have dry
knowledge when it comes to climate change .This is attributed to the thought
many possess concerning the same. However, climate change remains the biggest threat to humanity in
modern times. The African continent is particularly vulnerable to the impacts
of climate change and science affirms that if the emissions aren’t curbed,
droughts and floods will be more common and agricultural yields which form the
backbone of most of Africa’s economy will decline dramatically. The result will
be starvation, migration, resource wars and tremendous suffering.
Mercy Corps works
with youth to address the root of conflict and empower them to champion peace.
In addition, they promote sustainable change by supporting initiatives that are
community-led, market-driven and promote good governance, a goal which the
African Youth Initiative on Climate Change also upholds. For
this purpose therefore, youth and climate change is one of the areas the
organization endeavors to engage in and AYICC-K is best suited to provide the
needed platform for their youth.
About Mercy Corps
The organization was
founded in 1979 as Save the Refugees Fund, a task force organized by Dan
O’Neill in response to the plight of Cambodian refugees fleeing the famine, war
and genocide of the “killing fields.” Its mission is to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by
helping people build secure, productive and just communities. In its
operation the organization believes that
- Communities are the best agents of their own change.
- Local
markets are the best engines of
sustainable recovery.
- Success is built on the foundation of good governance.
The organization employs the following strategy in its work
- Focus on places in transition, where
conflict, disaster, political upheaval or economic collapse present
opportunities to challenge the status quo and build more secure,
productive and just communities.
- Provide emergency relief in times of crisis,
then move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to
future shocks.
- Promote sustainable change by
supporting initiatives that are community-led, market-driven and promote
good governance.
- Seek innovation that creates major
breakthroughs against poverty and lasting change in the places we work.
Njeri giving a brief about AYICC-K |
Prepared by Antony Ogolla and Njeri Nancy
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