The first Regional Conference of Youth (RCOY) kicked off on Friday at The Innovation Hub in Lynnwood, Pretoria.
The conference is organised by Africa Youth for COP Campaign under YOUNGO, Green Africa Youth Organisation, The African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Africa, and hosted by Indalo Inclusive South Africa, a Pretoria-based non-profit organisation working to support and promote social, green, inclusive, and responsible entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Natania Botha, content and partnerships coordinator at Indalo Inclusive and long-time environmental activist, said that hosting and facilitating conferences such as RCOY is crucial if we are to ensure a sustainable future for African youth.
"It is important that we create these platforms to elevate the voices of young people in order to share their knowledge, challenges, lived experiences and solutions with one another, and for them to return to our communities using this newfound knowledge as a mandate to create change," said Botha.
"We need bold, decisive action from young people and we need it now. We can't wait for tomorrow for someone to be recognised as a leader. Young people need to be taken seriously now," she said.
The conference aims to convene African youth on African soil and strengthen their capacity and policy advocacy to meaningfully participate in both the annual Conference of Youth (COY) and Conference of Parties (COP) through dialogue and extensive training.
Shamiela Reid, the head coordinator at the conference, said that "young people often attend meetings and dialogue such as COP and COY without being adequately prepared for these discussions and with limited capacity to partake and make meaningful contributions."
"It is important for young people to be able to contribute meaningfully at these conferences, especially because this year's COP is an African one,” Reid said.
The very first African youth climate action plan, which is being finalised at this conference, will include a monitoring and evaluation target which will ensure that tangible mitigation, adaptation and emissions reduction objectives are being implemented.
An inspired Moliehi Mafantiri, a volunteer at the conference, said that "as a young person, it is exhilarating to have the opportunity to be a part of a conference like this, as it is refreshing to see the realisation of African youth participation in climate policy processes."
Mafantiri said that she looks forward to the finalisation of the African Youth Climate Action Plan and hopes to see the African Group of Negotiators advance the demands outlined in the plan.
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