Main Features - August 2008
International
Youth Day 2008: Youth and Climate
Change
By
Alicia Lovett, ICP
Intern
This
year’s International Youth Day will be the
9th annual UN-organized
day to commemorate and inspire youth service.
The theme for this year is Youth and Climate Change:
Time for Action.
The four focal points of this theme are
risk
reduction, preparedness, adaptation, and
mitigation of the effects of climate
change. This year’s theme of global climate
change and the empowerment of youth
to address this issue is a topic with which
ICP has long been involved through
our support of a U.S. Clean Energy Corps and a
“Green New Deal,” and through our
on-going research into policies and programs
around the world that incorporate
youth service as a strategy to address global
climate change.
A
variety of events around
the world are planned for this year, including
city-wide walks in Australia and
Canada, 3-day
long festivals in Cameroon with youth-led
discussions, tree planting in
Mauritius, and the Shoot
Nations
International Photography
Competition.
These and other ideas can be found on
the
UN site. Program and event
organizers are invited to
send plans or ideas for community initiatives
and events to youth@un.org
to be recognized and shared with other
communities.
International
Youth Day
began in 1999 when the UN General Assembly
voted to publicize the World Program
of Action for Youth and increase global youth
participation. It has been
immensely successful throughout the world, and
as of July organized activities
have been planned in 21 countries. Past themes
have dealt with poverty, global
health, unemployment, and development, while
this year’s is the first year to
deal with environmental degradation and
climate change. We hope that everyone
gets involved on August 12th so
that the global impact of this
special day continues to
grow.