Caribbean youth are being invited to submit project ideas on fighting the effects of climate change on the oceans, according to a release yesterday from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The release said that the Engaged Initiative is a collaboration led by UNESCO, with Socialab, Ashoka, and National Geographic. It is inviting Caribbean youth aged 18-29 to submit project ideas to the Engaged for the Oceans and the Environment Challenge to fight the effects of climate change on the oceans. Three of the project ideas have the chance to win US$2,000 for developing their innovative solutions, the release added.
Young people can submit their ideas through the following platform: http://bit.ly/compoceanos by 18 July 2021.
The release pointed out that ocean pollution is one of the biggest climate challenges facing the planet.
“Not only are the oceans responsible for producing at least 50 per cent of the world’s oxygen, they also make up 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface and are home to millions of species. However, 80 per cent of the world’s plastic ends up in the oceans every year. The Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), are either surrounded by or bordered by the Caribbean Sea and rely heavily on the oceans for their livelihoods and sustainable development”, the release noted.
Encouraging Caribbean youth to enter the Engaged for the Oceans and the Environment Challenge, Saadia Sanchez-Vegas, Director and Representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean said, “The initiative has actively engaged over 10,000 young people from Latin America since 2015 in creating youth-led projects to promote sustainable development. Now, Engaged is expanding to the Caribbean, giving young people from the sub-region the opportunity to submit their ideas to better protect our Oceans, an ultimate source of life.”
Mauricio Rodriguez, a youth participant from Colombia shares his experience: “Engaged has become a big movement across Latin American countries, encouraging young people to believe in the importance of their social projects and giving them strategic tools to move forward. We have become a community where we explore different issues that make us think from a different tactical level. Now, with the call of Engaged for the Oceans and the Environment, it opens up a range of opportunities to explore ideas that impact our environment and that we need to act on.”
