Youth Activist

Why this Indigenous rights activist does not take clean water for granted

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:52:39 +0000

Why this Indigenous rights activist does not take clean water for granted Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/17/2022 - 13:52

Kelsey Simpkins

“We continue to advocate for clean water because it's not just for our communities. It's for everyone, and it's for everything.”

—Tia Kennedy

Across Canada, millions of people don’t think twice when turning on the tap. But Indigenous activist Tia Kennedy never takes a glass of water for granted.

As a member of both the Oneida Nation of the Thames and Walpole Island First Nation, located in southwestern Ontario next to the Great Lakes, her connection to water is ancient. Her advocacy for clean water, however, is the result of more recent injustices.

In 2022, the Oneida Nation of the Thames remains on a boil water advisory because of underfunded water treatment and distribution systems. And Walpole Island First Nation is still grappling with the consequences of water contamination perpetrated two generations ago.

“While my grandmother was growing up, they were dumping chemicals and strong pollutants into the waterways,” Kennedy said. “This is what eventually took the lives of my grandmother and her two sisters. They passed away from cancer. It was quite traumatic for different people in my family to lose three women so close together at such young ages.”

Meanwhile, a mere 14 miles away, another city in Ontario can safely fill up a cup straight from the faucet.

“It's not fair that we're the ones constantly fighting and putting ourselves on the frontline advocating for this water, and yet we're the only ones in Canada that don't have access to it,” Kennedy said.

Fossil fuel extraction methods, such as hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), chemical spills, and unsafe disposal of industrial pollutants by private corporations and the Canadian government, have severely affected water quality and supply in First Nation communities for the past 30 years.

More than two decades into the 21st century, at least 30 First Nations still lack access to clean drinking water, and some have no running water at all. The Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario has not had safe tap water since 1995. Delays in funding mean these issues may not be addressed again until 2026.

In 2021, Kennedy received a Future Rising Fellowship from Girl Rising as part of its first fellowship cohort in her quest to make change and raise awareness of the need for clean water. This life-changing experience helped her develop many creative talents and skills while working with professionals to produce a short documentary film about these injustices. The film is scheduled to be released this year.

“My film not only highlights the devastating impacts of the water crisis, but it also highlights the beauty and the resiliency of Indigenous peoples. We're not only survivors of the past, but we're integral pieces of the future of this planet,” said Kennedy, who is also considering law school as a way to create a healthier future for her communities.

Founder of Kiinew Kwe Consulting, Kennedy is already a youth activist, speaker and consultant who works with governments, corporations and communities to address discrimination and promote meaningful and effective interactions with Indigenous peoples. Her fight for clean water will only become more important as the planet’s climate changes, threatening access to clean water for millions or even billions of people around the world.

“We continue to advocate for clean water because it's not just for our communities. It's for everyone, and it's for everything,” Kennedy said.

Across Canada, millions of people don’t think twice when turning on the tap. But Indigenous activist Tia Kennedy never takes a glass of water for granted.

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Her family lost their farm in Uganda to climate change. Now she’s standing up for the future.

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 16:30:59 +0000

Her family lost their farm in Uganda to climate change. Now she’s standing up for the future. Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/12/2022 - 10:30 Daniel Strain

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye poses with newly planted trees in Kampala, Uganda on Earth Day, 2021

“Children have a lot of their future ahead of them. They have to know about climate change so they can stand up, speak up and fight for their future.”

—Hilda Flavia Nakabuye

Climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye first experienced the impacts of climate change before she even knew what the term meant.

When she was growing up in Uganda, Nakabuye’s family owned a small plantation in a village called Masaka not far from the wide expanse of Lake Victoria. They grew bananas, cassava, Irish potatoes and other crops. Then, in the 2000s, long periods of drought interrupted by fierce storms destroyed most of her family’s chief source of food and income.

“Crops were withered, and heavy rains stripped away most of the plants,” Nakabuye said.

Her parents moved the family to the capital city of Kampala to find work. It wasn’t until 2017 when Nakabuye enrolled as a student at Kampala University that she learned what had caused the devastation to her family farm: rapidly rising temperatures driven by humanity’s out-of-control greenhouse gas emissions.

Now 25, Nakabuye has dedicated the years since to mobilizing young people across Uganda and beyond to combat what she calls “the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced.”

By 2050, more than 200 million people may be forced to move within their own nation’s borders because of climate change, according to a 2021 report from the World Bank. In parts of East Africa, that mass migration has already begun. In the Horn of Africa, huge numbers of people are moving to escape a record-setting drought. The United Nations estimates that 1.7 million children in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition because of the drought.

“The countries of the Global South are the least prepared to cope with the effects of climate change,” Nabakuye said. “They are also the countries that have contributed the least to causing climate change.”

Yet Nakabuye believes that young people, and especially young women, in nations like Uganda are in the best position to help the world solve its climate crisis.

She founded Fridays for Future Uganda, which organizes regular “climate strikes” to raise awareness of climate change in the nation. More recently, she participated in a campaign to protest the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a planned project that would carry oil across Uganda and through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean.

Nakabuye has also led efforts to clean up the shores of Lake Victoria. Once a point of pride for Uganda and neighboring countries, the lake has become overrun with pollution and invasive plants and fish.

One of the most important solutions to climate change is education, she said. Nakabuye hopes that children in Uganda will have opportunities she did not have to learn about climate change and the forces shaping the environments around them from a young age.

“Children have a lot of their future ahead of them,” Nakabuye said. “They have to know about climate change so they can stand up, speak up and fight for their future.”

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, center, joins a protest.

Climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye first experienced the impacts of climate change before she even knew what the term meant.

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Selina Leem

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 18:59:05 +0000

Selina Leem Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/05/2022 - 12:59

Marshall Islands

Expertise:
Youth Activist

Day 1: Impacts

Panel:
The Experiences of Those Whose Human Rights are Disproportionately Impacted by Climate Change

Friday, December 2, 2022

Selina Leem is a climate warrior and a poet from the large ocean nation of Aelōn̄ Kein Ad, the Marshall Islands. Crediting her late grandfather for her deep awareness of the fate of her home, she has made it her mission to globally raise awareness of the climate crisis.

Representing the Marshall Islands at the age of 18, Leem was the youngest delegate at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. Alongside then Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony deBrum, they delivered the closing statement for their country. Leem went on to many other global stages to speak on behalf of her people, using storytelling and spoken word. Most recently, Leem was a speaker at the 2021 TED Countdown Summit.

Selina Leem is a climate warrior and a poet from the large ocean nation of Aelōn̄ Kein Ad, the Marshall Islands.

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Julieta Martinez

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:54:21 +0000

Julieta Martinez Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/28/2022 - 13:54

Chile

Expertise:
Youth Activist
Education
Climate Change & Environment

Founder
Tremendas

Day 3: Solutions

Panel:
Developing Climate Solutions With the Human Rights of Future Generations in Mind: What do youth have to say about that?

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Julieta Martinez is a climate justice and gender equity youth activist. Her work focuses on girls’ education as a climate solution, since the climate crisis is not gender neutral. She founded Tremendas, a global action that connects, empowers, educates and amplifies the voices of young women and adolescents who seek to become changemakers in local and global processes and decision-making. Tremendas is present in 18 countries around the world. Martinez has also co-founded Latinas For Climate and the education academy Climáticas. She knows first-hand that an educated girl can change the world.

Martinez is a member of the Youth Task Force for the Beijing+25 for Generation Equality of UN Women. In July 2021, she participated in the Generation Equality Forum held in Paris. At the meeting, the young activist shared the stage with figures such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, businesswoman Melinda Gates, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom she shared an intergenerational dialogue on the role of girls and adolescents for gender equality and intersectionality.

In November 2021, Martinez participated in COP26 as a panelist and speaker, sharing the stage with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Together they discussed the role of intersectionality in developing ambitious and effective solutions to the climate crisis.

Martinez is also a Girl Rising Fellow and advocates for girls' access to education. With Girl Rising, Martinez is directing her first documentary focusing on girls as part of developing climate solutions, as well as calls to action from the Global South.

Julieta Martinez is a climate justice and gender equity youth activist. Her work focuses on girls’ education as a climate solution, since the climate crisis is not gender neutral.

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Tia Kennedy

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:08:22 +0000

Tia Kennedy Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/28/2022 - 11:08

Canada (First Nations)

Expertise:
Human Rights
Youth Activist

Founder
Kiinew Kwe Consulting

Day 3: Solutions

Panel:
Traditional Knowledge and Climate Solutions

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Feature Story

Why this Indigenous rights activist does not take clean water for granted

Tia Kennedy is an Indigenous rights activist and youth leader in her community. She comes from two First Nations communities located in what is now known as Canada. She carries Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe teachings from Oneida Nation of the Thames and Walpole Island First Nation. Kennedy is the founder of Kiinew Kwe Consulting, a company that empowers organizations to address discrimination and develop the necessary skills, knowledge, attitudes and values to promote meaningful and effective interactions with Indigenous peoples.

Her work focuses on a community-based and heart-centered approach to climate and racial justice. She has worked with various First Nations and non-Indigenous organizations across Turtle Island to create more equitable relationships with the land and each other. She uses the two-eyed seeing approach of applying Indigenous and Western worldviews to build more harmonious relationships.

Kennedy is a 2021 Girl Rising fellow. During her fellowship, she created a short film highlighting her family's devastating connection to the water crisis in First Nation communities. The film also displayed Indigenous peoples' unique relationship with water while showcasing the beauty and strength of her culture. She is currently writing a science fiction novel and applying to law school.

Tia Kennedy is an Indigenous rights activist and youth leader in her community.

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Stephanie Lamma Ewi

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:05:06 +0000

Stephanie Lamma Ewi Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/28/2022 - 11:05

Cameroon

Expertise:
Environmental Governance
Climate Change & Environment
Youth Activist

Director of Programming
Pan African Center for Climate Policy

Day 3: Solutions

Panel:
Developing Climate Solutions With the Human Rights of Future Generations in Mind: What do youth have to say about that?

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Stephanie Lamma Ewi obtained a master’s degree in natural resource and environmental management from the University of Buea, spearheading research and development for nine years as an environmental and climate justice advocate in rural communities of Cameroon. After much research in these communities, she noticed the exclusion of women and girls in climate change projects and decision-making platforms. She was determined to see responsible decisions made regarding sustainable natural resource management in Cameroon and Africa, and she proposed structures that facilitate the channeling of rural voices in the process, particularly women and young people for representation in national and international platforms.

Lamma Ewi leads teams of volunteers to develop entrepreneurial support and climate leadership capacity-building programs for women and young people in rural forests and communities of Cameroon. She has been able to reach over 5,460 women and 500 young people in 162 communities in the country. She empowers women with livelihood skills like bush mango processing, beekeeping, mushroom farming, snail cultivation and micro enterprise development. Her work with rural community councils has prompted the formulation of over 20 local forest management policies in villages within Nguti and Takamanda that have stirred the construction of several nurseries with 110,000 indigenous tree species for revamping degraded sites and farmlands. Her works have recorded a 65% increase in women’s income sources and a 20% involvement of women in local councils in the communities where she works.

Lamma Ewi works directly with young people through her weekly radio program Eco-voice, an environmental awareness program on Eternity Gospel Radio and Eden Radio Limbe, Cameroon, reaching 4,000 listeners. Recently, she coordinated the establishment of a 5,000-tree nursery to combat natural disasters in Limbe. She organized the Miss Environment FOREP 2020 pageant, bringing together government institutions, 10 nongovernmental organizations, two TV stations, several media houses and 150+ people to plant more than 4,500 trees along the streets, farms and neighborhoods of Limbe. She is working with four disaster-prone communities to play football for trees, with an objective to plant 7,000 trees across her municipality.

Lamma Ewi heads a team that developed a climate change curriculum. She led her team to establish an eco club in primary schools around Limbe where they are building children’s capacities as climate ambassadors using arts. Lamma Ewi is a volunteer country mentor for the Africa Climate Reality Project, coaching 24 mentees from Bogota, Colombia, three mentees from USG/Leap Girl Africa Cameroon and 21 students from PACC Policy. She gained recognition from the United Nations Foundation as one of the six new youth voices on climate change and from the Climate Reality Project as one of 8 Women Leading on Climate. Lamma Ewi is an environmental impact consultant at the Delegation of Environment and Nature Protection in Limbe. She is a Mandela Washington fellow, YALI Regional Leadership Center alumna, a UN peace ambassador, a Joke Waller-Hunter Initiative awardee and board member of the Youth Against Slavery Movement.

Lamma Ewi says she believes that “natural resources should be for the benefits of all people and not monopolized for the benefits of few."

Stephanie Lamma Ewi obtained a master’s degree in natural resource and environmental management from the University of Buea, spearheading research and development for 9 years as an environmental and climate justice advocate in rural communities of Cameroon.

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Monica Neupane

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:04:32 +0000

Monica Neupane Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/28/2022 - 11:04

Nepal

Expertise:
Climate Change & Environment
Youth Activist

Program Officer
Centre for Environment Education Nepal

Day 3: Solutions

Panel:
Developing Climate Solutions With the Human Rights of Future Generations in Mind: What do youth have to say about that?

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Monica Neupane is an environment educator and climate activist. She studied environment science and is working as a program officer at the Centre for Environment Education Nepal (CEEN). She is president at CliMates Nepal and works on advocacy planning as a Young Climate Consultant at UNICEF Nepal. Since 2018 she has volunteered and engaged in several NGOs and organized events such as the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), Leadership summit and Climate Action Simulation, among others.

She is a member of the youth constituency of UNFCCC (YOUNGO) and a part of the LCOY and LDYC working groups. She has won awards at idea innovation competitions, including UNLEASH Hacks in 2020. Monica is one of the sustainability leaders in the United People Global’s sustainability leadership Class of 2021.

Monica Neupane is an environment educator and climate activist.

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Gitanjali Rao

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 14:08:48 +0000

Gitanjali Rao Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/28/2022 - 08:08

United States

Expertise:
Youth Activist

Youth Science Prodigy
Time Kid of The Year

Day 2: Obligations

Panel:
The Role of Education in Building a Global Culture of Knowledge and Inquiry Climate Change, Its Human Rights Impacts and Solutions

Saturday, December 3, 2022

Gitanjali Rao was recognized as the United States' Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential Award for inventing her device, Tethys, a tool for early detection of lead. This adds to her collection of inventions, including Epione, a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and Kindly, an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and natural language processing.

She was honored as one of Forbes' “30 Under 30 in Science” in 2019 and Time’s Top Young Innovator and Time Kid of the Year for her innovations and STEM workshops, which she conducts globally, inspiring over 60,000 students in 40 countries across six continents. She often presents on the topics of innovation and the importance of STEM in global and corporate forums.

Rao is the author of the book Young Innovator's Guide to STEM, available in five languages, which guides students and educators through a five-step innovation process. She was honored as one of the United States' Top Youth Volunteers by Prudential in 2021, and was appointed as a UNICEF Youth Advocate for using science for solving social problems, such as cyberbullying, and developing solutions for environmental protection. She recently received a grant as a National Geographic Young Explorer to expand her workshops.

Gitanjali Rao was recognized as the United State's Top Young Scientist and received an EPA Presidential award for inventing her device Tethys, an early lead detection tool.

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Hilda Flavia Nakabuye

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 21:03:02 +0000

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/24/2022 - 15:03

Uganda

Expertise:
Climate Change & Environment
Youth Activist

Founder
Fridays for Future Uganda

Day 1: Impacts

Panel:
The Experiences of Those Whose Human Rights are Disproportionately Impacted by Climate Change

Friday, December 2, 2022

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is a Ugandan climate, gender and environmental rights activist who founded Fridays for Future Uganda—a youth-led and -organized global climate strike movement. Every Friday, she works toward building a safer and healthier environment by rallying governments, corporate organizations and communities to take climate action. She has visited schools around the world, mobilizing students to use their voices to make a difference.

Flavia Nakabuye is also a public speaker, writer, Future Girl Rising fellow and member of the C40 Global Youth and Mayors Forum. She leads shore cleanup at Lake Victoria, empowering lakeshore communities to learn how to protect lakes and fight against plastic pollution.

Flavia Nakabuye is committed to championing a sustainable and resilient world. She has represented her continent and frontline communities at international conferences and events, including: COP25 Climate Change Conference, C40 World Mayors Summit and the women’s March4Climate in London, among others.

Nakabuye Hilda Flavia is a Ugandan climate, gender and environmental rights activist who founded Fridays for Future Uganda—a youth-led and -organized global climate strike movement.

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