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Last day at the Conference of Youth

WAGGGS Youth Delegate's picture

By Fatima Irais Espinosa Rodriguez, WAGGGS Youth Delegate From Mexico

We started the day with a relaxing dynamic in order to meet and keep in touch with someone from the Conferene of Youth (COY 6) before starting the exciting and busy week that is ahead. We found a person who was not from our own delegation and exchanged information and ideas so as to be in contact and start a new friendship.

It was also related to the topic of the day: “Enjoy the moments, act and participate but don’t forget to be healthy and rest." It is very important for everyone to express how they are feeling and take a moment just to relax and breathe deeply. The most important thing is to be ready and energized  to achieve the goals we have and enjoy the activities that we are doing as young people.

We also watched a video that was made from young people who live in Europe where they wished  us the best for these 2 weeks at COP 16.

About working groups

Some of the WAGGGS delegates made a video with interviews about the expectations of some of the COY 6 working groups. The video only shows the faces of the people who participated in them, that´s why I'm writing what the focus of these groups are.

Media: The aim of this working group is for youth to get the opportunity to speak out, share points of view in order to create an international ideas space.
Action and Finance: The goal of this working group is to make sure that the solutions and decisions that the politicians take in COP 16 will be transformed into real actions that have an impact on climate change. They want to have an equitable experience for everyone in COP 16.
Article 6 and especially WAGGGS: They are working on education, awareness and participation at COP 16. They believe that is very important to implement non-formal education.
Girls and Young Women: They want to make sure women and girls are recognized officially in the UNFCCC.

For the closing ceremony

We received a big surprise! The 350 group traveled from Alaska to Cancun by bicycle! They arrived in Cancun and joined us in COY6. The principal representative of this organization, Bill Mckibben, shared with us some of his knowledge about climate change and focused on the importance that empowering youth has now, because we are the present and future of our world.

We finished this day with the traditional climate action dance of COY and a concert.

It was an amazing experience for me because it was an opportunity to share with other young people my ideas about how girls and young women are affected by climate change, and the projects that WAGGGS has to fight it. I also learnt a lot from other organizations about their experiences of working with youth and the different projects that they have according to their needs. I think that these kind of events are very successful for youth because we form many relationships with different people around the world, and the most important thing is we create new projects which will be transformed into actions to conserve and save the planet.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous on
Education should be global but for only those who wants it, you should'nt force kids who don't want to go to go because then they start to disrupt schools and the learning enviorment for those who want to learn and thats unfair.

Submitted by Karim DiaaEldin on
HI, am Karim from EGYPT I want to ask how can i join to your team I like the Idea so mush and it make me wanna to be one of the team thanks a lot ,

Submitted by Anonymous on
I think that for most of us in Ghana (should be common among most developing nations) and talking from personal point of view if i had not gone the extra mile of getting myself in development related actions whilst in school i wouldn't have know about global frameworks like the MDGs and how i can take action. Education in Ghana as a country has been kind of "chew and pour". Literally it has been for students to memorize what the teacher has taught the class and then get them to give him/her the same lecture notes back without pushing students to go the extra mile of researching to know something new and adding value. This situation is even common in universities. For me i think my education was worth it at the university as a social scientist, i was able to learn from my lecturers and also relate it to global scene and try to localize the issue to see how a global framework like the MDGs applies to my local community for me to take action. That of course gave me an upper-hand in most of the development oriented courses that i took as i had good grades. But i feel that African countries and my country, Ghana will have to review how teachers teach and also the curriculum to take action on how making "global partnership can work for development". This can be done through live chats and sharing of best practices or ideas among young people from different regions of the world.

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Submitted by Donna on
I don't know how long the "human geography" (advanced placement) course has been around in American high schools, but I got a glimpse of it the other night and was impressed. It uses maps, graphs, etc. to look at social and environmental issues from the global perspective. Hopefully, it gets students thinking about these issues as well. Beyond that, social studies and literature offer opportunities to understand and appreciate other cultures. Science classes talk about the environment, recycling and global warming from the early grades. That said, I don't thnk it's easy for North American young people to truly grasp what it's like in other countries without going there. Our relative isolation insulates us from some of the problems other parts of the world are experiencing. But that's all the more reason to try harder for a global education.

I think sometimes people tent to forget the real meaning of Education in its broad and comprehensive sense, not limited to any specific subject or even to any formal schooling structure. I believe a global education needs to be something more than just classes and lessons learned. It's about experiencing and discovering, researching, discussing, education is about actively living education. It's a shame most people misunderstand this. I think education for sustainability, global dimension, sustainable education, all those are labels sometimes overused here in the UK. But it's important to realise they are all aiming for basically the same thing. They are looking for an Education that can be much more engaging. And that more than covering all the principles of geometry or literature, it will prepare individuals for life as better and more responsible citizens. My understanding of global education is something that reach out from the school walls, and engage the community, and challenge the students to create, to experiment, to criticize and to look for solutions that will tackle current global issues. And will recognize the students as important partners in the construction of their learning experience, instead of just a beneficiary of the services schools can currently provide.

Submitted by Anonymous on
Hi Joao: I agree with your passage about getting a living education, not only the formal version. I have hosted international students and interns in my home for more than 25 years from Brazil (also have a student from Brazil currently) and all countries in the world that are here in the US perfecting their English and to get a glimpse of home life in the United States. It is a great way to have the experiences you are mentioning above because families who host as I do provide the other side of education, a way to practice their English, expand their vocabulary and enrich their world knowledge though this interaction with families. If you know a way good to promote Homestay in Brazil for Houston, Texas where I live I would be happy to provide further information. Houston is a fabulous city, 4th largest in the US, with so much to do and see too. It is a rewarding experience for those who want to learn more of our way of life and have fun while learning too. Please let me hear from you! All the Best- T

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