KEEPING THE DRUMBEAT … After a successful side-event held during SBSTTA25 in October 2023, the African Youth came back in Nairobi for the 4th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-4) of the Convention on Biodiversity Diversity (CBD).
To accelerate the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), recently renamed The Biodiversity Plan, and ensure the sustainability of existing conservation initiatives, African youth, who make up a majority of the African population, need to be at the forefront.
Since the adoption of the GBF in December 2022, countries have had the opportunity to start reviewing and updating their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
With 2030 just six years away, how have young people been involved in the development and where relevant, implementation of NBSAPs? Are we anywhere near achieving inter-generational equity? How have governments and non-state institutions in Africa pioneered the inclusion of young people as partners in implementation in the spirit of the whole of society approach?
Entitled ‘6 Years to go: How are African countries engaging youth in implementing the Biodiversity Plan?’, the side-event was co-organised by African Wildlife Foundation, Global Youth Biodiversity Network – Africa Chapter (GYBN Africa) and the Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework EU Support project on Tuesday, May 21st just ahead of the International Biodiversity Day.
The event will endeavour to take stock of how countries in Africa are engaging young people in the development of their respective NBSAPs and the implementation of the 23 GBF Targets.
This event will offer an inspiring opportunity to identify best practices and the different ways in which young people can be engaged not just as beneficiaries but as key actors for change.
The panel discussion will be moderated by Simangele Msweli, Senior Manager of the Youth Leadership Program at the African Wildlife Foundation.
The panel discussion gathered 4 panellists. Each of them shared his/her respective thoughts and views, which opened the floor to a lively discussion ahead of COP16 to take place in Cali, Colombia, in October:
- Jacket Otete and Irene Natukunda, representing the African chapter of GYBN,
- Frederick Kumah, Vice President African Wildlife Foundation, from his position of Vice President
- Hugo Rivera, Team Leader of Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework – EU Support project, who will be online
- Mwayi Mkanthama, Environmental Officer responsible for Biodiversity in the Environmental Affairs Department for Malawi.
The side-event was the occasion to present the outcomes of the 2nd edition of the African Youth Summit for Biodiversity (AYSB), held in Rabat, Morocco last September. These outcomes are captured in an upcoming publication : a Catalogue of 10 Projects of Youth-led initiatives pre-selected for and pitched during AYSB.
This event was one of a long series of meetings and gatherings supported since 2018 by our project recalling the importance of a whole-of-society engagement, as anchored in Target 22 of The Biodiversity Plan.
Find out our recent publication, co-produced with GYBN:
