RO+20 Ghanaian Youth Group Grateful To Sherry Ayittey

..For opportunity to be part of Sustainable Development conference

At Rio de Janeiro

By William Sarpong

Youth who were privileged to participate in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development popularly referred to as Rio+20 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this year, have expressed their greatest appreciation and gratitude to the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey and the Ministry for recognizing the importance of mobilizing the youth to be part of the ground breaking conference.

The Rio+20 World Summit was held in June this year in Brazil to secure renewed international commitment to provide public and political support to address environmental and development issues in a holistic and integrated manner for the attainment of sustainable development.

The United Nations Conference on sustainable development also known as Rio+20 was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio Centro in Rio de Janeiro.

The objective of the conference was to renew political commitment for Sustainable Development, assess progress to date and gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on Sustainable Development, and to address new and emerging challenges.

The theme of the conference was “Green Economy in the context of Sustainable Development and Poverty alleviation and the Institutional framework for sustainable development.”

Government delegation during the ten days in Rio concluded negotiations on the Rio outcome document titled “The Future We Want.” Representatives from 191 UN member states and observers, including 79 Heads of States or Governments, addressed the general debate, and approximately 44,000 badges were issued for official meetings, a Rio+20 Partnerships Forum, Sustainable Development Dialogues, SD-Learning and an estimated 500 side events in Rio Centro.

Among the major decisions taken at the conference included designating a body to operationalize the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production; determine the modalities for the third international conference on Small Island developing states, which is to convene most likely in 2014.

Identify the format and organizational aspects of the high-level forum, which is to replace the Commission on Sustainable Development; strengthening the UN Environment Programme (UNDP).

Establishing an intergovernmental process under UNGA to prepare a report proposing options on an effective sustainable development financing strategy;

Considering a set of recommendations from the Secretary-General for a facilitation mechanism that promotes the development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies.

The Youth Delegates appealed to government to involve the participation of the youth in the design, formulation and the implementation of policies that directly affect them and have implication on their future.

They also appealed to district, Municipal and metropolitan assemblies to immediately put measures in place to mitigate the effects of climate change especially flooding, which annually claim many lives and cause loss of properties worth millions of Ghana cedis.

They appealed to the Ministry of Environment, The Ministry of Lands and Forestry and the Forestry Commission to involve indigenous people in the decision making process that relate to management of the natural resources.

Government, they said, needs to develop long term plans without political barriers that will address youth unemployment, and also help bridge the economic and social gap that exist between the poor and the rich.

They also appealed to government and international bodies like the UNDP to provide special attention and support to youth with entrepreneurship ideas that have the potential to create green jobs and promote environmental sustainability.

They urged the Ministry of Education and the Ghana education service to incorporate the teaching and learning of Sustainable development in the academic curricula especially at the junior and senior high schools.

The Youth Delegates include Mr. Kassim Gawusu, Greener Impact International, Mr. David Aburabura, Curious Minds, Mr. Charles Aboagye, The Perfect Example Environmental Foundation, Mr. Hussein Kassim, Greener Impact International, Hannah Frimpong, Evergreen Club, and Maxwell Adew, from Global Challenge.