Series of regional workshops for youth

As part of the Youth Voices project, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network is organizing a series of capacity-building workshops in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean from March 2017 to June 2017. These week-long regional workshops will bring together 10-15 young leaders in each region to: learn about the Convention on Biological Diversity; the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets; catalyze concrete actions to bring these legally-binding international decisions down to the local, national, and regional levels. Participants will receive training in international biodiversity conservation policy, media campaign skills and project management to create or enhance existing projects that directly contribute to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. For more information, consult the call for application.

Youth at the meetings of the Conference of the Parties and its Subsidiary Bodies

To learn more about youth's experience in the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th meetings of the Conference of the Parties and other CBD meetings, visit the Global Youth Biodiversity Network website website, and consult the detailed reports on youth involvement in the fifth meeting of the Ad-Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention (WGRI-5), eigteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-18) and COP 12, prepared by a youth representative from Brazil and a youth representative from India , and by a youth representative from Colombia, respectively.

UNESCO Youth Forum of the 38th session of the General Conference, 26-28 October 2015, Paris, France

The CBD Secretariat, in collaboration with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) and with the generous contribution of the Japan Biodiversity Fund, called for youth to submit their expressions of interest to participate in UNESCO Youth Forum-Young Global Citizens For A Sustainable Planet of the 38th session of the General Conference which took place from 26 to 28 October 2015 in Paris, France. Ms. Xiomara Acevedo, 24 year old, from Colombia was selected from among 35 applicants to receive funding to take part in the youth forum. Ms. Acevedo worked together with other youth representatives to integrate biodiversity in the youth recommendations that were submitted to UNESCO General Conference.

Eco-Generation, 9-13 February 2015, Seoul, Korea

Global Youth Eco-Leadership Summit(GYELS) is Eco-generation's comprehensive environmental education package full of academic opportunity, global experience and excursions to grow the future leaders.

The application for the 2015 Global Youth Eco-Leadership Summit will open soon. To check detail information about 2015 GYELS, please click this link.

Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment

Theme “ Health and the Environment”, 10 to 14 February 2013, Nairobi, Kenya

The United Nations Environment Programme hosted the Tunza International Youth Conference on the Environment in Nairobi, Kenya from 10 to 14 February 2013. It brought together 200 youth from over 100 countries. The Conference Programme included plenaries, workshops and field trips. The overall theme was Health & the Environment and the subthemes included Youth & Entreprenuership, Sustainable Consumption/ State of the Environment and Water.

Second International Youth Symposium for Biodiversity - July 2009

The Second International Youth Symposium for Biodiversity is being planned for Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 5-9, 2009.

This initiative has been welcomed by Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Montreal-based Convention on Biological Diversity, who stated that “Young people have a central place as bearers of tomorrow’s solutions. Their engagement is essential if we are to reduce the loss of biodiversity and ensure the future of life on Earth.” We are contributing to the United Nations 2010 Biodiversity Target.

The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity committed themselves to the 2010 Biodiversity Target. This target is to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth.

The purpose of our symposium was to invite students (Grade 6 to 12) from around the world to submit biodiversity project proposals to attend. The focus of the symposium was:

• to welcome students from around the world, and to celebrate the work they are doing at home regarding local biodiversity efforts.
• to experience Canadian biodiversity with a Bio-Blitz (A Biological Survey with local scientists and naturalists)
• to develop methods to implement the Global Youth's Accord for Biodiversity that was created by nine (9) nations during the First Youth Symposium in Mexico in 2005.

For more information, visit www.biodiversitymatters.org

Youth Conferences During COP

There were several children and youth events running parallel to the official COP-MOP(1) meetings and events in Bonn Germany. Here's a taste of what happened:

• Three hundred young activists, aged between ten and eighteen years old, attended the Kids for Earth Ancient Forests Festival in Bonn on 19 May. The highlight of this event was a meeting between conference delegates and youth activists in the lunchbreak of the first day of COP9. It was held on the main stage of the CBD campus.
  This event provided our young forest and climate activists with the opportunity to present their banners and a song to political decision makers from all over the world - and to address their hopes, wishes and demands to those with the responsibility for the well-being of future generations as well as the power to make a change.

• The Go4BioDiv youth summit brought together 50 youths ages 18-25 from around the world. The summit had two parts: a 10-day wilderness camp in Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald (16-25 May) and 5-day conference in Bonn (26-30 May). Download the information brochure.
  Go4BioDiv was the official German youth event organised by the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit" (GTZ) GmbH, on behalf of the Federal German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

• Over seventy passionate young environmentalists from from Europe, Africa, South America and Central Asia for the Biodiversity on the Edge (COP9) international youth conference. The event was held 13-19 May in Bonn. There were diverse biodiversity-themed workshops, inter-cultural evenings and excursions into Bonn and its surroundings, among other things.
  The conference was co-organised by the German Youth Association for the Protection of Nature (NAJU) and Youth and Environment Europe (YEE).

(1) COP=The Convention of the Parties is an international meeting focused on the Convention on Biological Diversity. MOP=Meeting of the Parties is an international meeting focused on biosafety issues outlined in the Cartegena Protocol.

Competitions

UNICEF: Supports award for children promoting children's rights
UNICEF is supporting the presentation of the 2008 Alexander Bodini Charitable Foundation Children's Awards, which will honour two child-led organizations that have successfully and meaningfully contributed to creating A World Fit for Children. The awards will include a financial grant for two finalists and be presented at a New York City event to be held in February 2009. The Minister for Foreign and Political Affairs and Economic Planning of the Republic of San Marino (with functions of Prime Minister) will be attending. In providing these awards, the Foundation seeks to promote them as role models for other children and young people around the world. The deadline for submissions of nominations is 17 November. The final selection and announcement of the awards will be on 1 December. More information.