64
development agencies to discuss mobilising
resources to implement programmes. These meetings were integral for the creation of the Caribbean
Youth Environment Network (CYEN); 16
Caribbean youth activism networks worked in unison under CYEN to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues. The role also exposed
me to the international spectrum of development.
JEMS requested nine tickets, sponsored by the
Commonwealth, for young people from nine
Commonwealth countries to participate in the
third preparatory meeting for the UNCED held in
Geneva, Switzerland, and contacted with the
European Forest Action who generously allowed
our stay in a bomb shelter in Geneva within walking distance from the UN headquarters. Only the
tickets were sponsored, and as youth from small
islands, our finances were not as disposable to
stay at hotels or buy meals from restaurants. For
the duration of the meeting, we pooled our meagre savings to buy provisions to cook on wood
fetched from the grounds of the bomb shelter.
Our determination to be heard kept true after we
were told that the youth were not included in the
draft documents to be presented to PREPCOM 3
of UNCED meeting. We stayed up late into the
nights in the bomb shelter to discuss the implications of the development challenges facing the
youth and prepared our lobby to ensure the youth
were included in the Earth Charter for the next
Rio Earth Summit on Sustainable Development.
Each morning we stood outside the gates of the
UN headquarters, begging delegates to talk to
Maurice Strong, the head of the UNCED, to give
us a chance to address the meeting. We were introduced to Barbara Pile, Turner Broadcasting
Corporation, which covered the conference for
CNN and TBS. After inviting her to come to the
bomb shelter to tell the world of the plight of the
youth, our story was broadcasted globally. The
next morning, I encouraged a group of youth leaders to go to the UN. Initially wary, we stood our
ground when the UN’s security officers came but
were elated when told that the UNCED head asked
for us to address the meeting. Escorted into the
conference room, we were well prepared and passionately presented our 7-minute presentation in
seven different languages by seven youth leaders.
Due to our determination in Geneva, the youth
were included in the Earth Charter as a critical sector. Although I did not attend the Rio Earth Summit,
I was happy to learn that the UN encouraged member governments to include the youth on their
national delegations to the meeting. Wagaki
Mwangi, one of the youth leaders who attended
PREPCOM 3 of UNCED with us, represented
Kenyan youths in the national delegation to the
meeting in Brazil in 1992 and was selected by the
youth delegates at UNCED to address the conference on their behalf. Mwangi is currently working
as Communication and Media Officer, UNCCD, in
Bon, Germany. Dr. Paulette Bynoe from Guyana,
who also joined us at PREPCOM 3 of UNCED, is
still very active in representing her country at the
UNFCCC COPS and IPCC meetings.
After the preparatory meeting, we met at Lake
Geneva to establish the International Youth
Development and Environment Network
(IYDEN) and selected Mwangi as Chairperson.
IYDEN produced a significant publication on the
youth and environment in collaboration with the
Commonwealth Secretariat. Due to a lack of
financial resources, IYDEN ceased to function
after 2 years; it was costly to communicate with
members of the network pre-Internet era. Back
home in the Caribbean, I continued to work as a
volunteer with the youth to enhance the institutional capacity of national chapters of CYEN. The
Caribbean Conservation Association awarded
JEMS the Caribbean Conservation Award in
1993 for its work on conservation and community development issues in SVG, and I was
awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize by
the Goldman Environmental Foundation in 1994
for my continued work with youth, environmental and conservation issues across the Caribbean.
Utilising SWOT Analysis
in Assessing the Scope
of the Movement
Strengths
• Extensive use of social media (Instagram,
Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) provides opportu4 The Emergence of New Climatic Storms: Global Perspective on the Application…
development agencies to discuss mobilising
resources to implement programmes. These meetings were integral for the creation of the Caribbean
Youth Environment Network (CYEN); 16
Caribbean youth activism networks worked in unison under CYEN to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues. The role also exposed
me to the international spectrum of development.
JEMS requested nine tickets, sponsored by the
Commonwealth, for young people from nine
Commonwealth countries to participate in the
third preparatory meeting for the UNCED held in
Geneva, Switzerland, and contacted with the
European Forest Action who generously allowed
our stay in a bomb shelter in Geneva within walking distance from the UN headquarters. Only the
tickets were sponsored, and as youth from small
islands, our finances were not as disposable to
stay at hotels or buy meals from restaurants. For
the duration of the meeting, we pooled our meagre savings to buy provisions to cook on wood
fetched from the grounds of the bomb shelter.
Our determination to be heard kept true after we
were told that the youth were not included in the
draft documents to be presented to PREPCOM 3
of UNCED meeting. We stayed up late into the
nights in the bomb shelter to discuss the implications of the development challenges facing the
youth and prepared our lobby to ensure the youth
were included in the Earth Charter for the next
Rio Earth Summit on Sustainable Development.
Each morning we stood outside the gates of the
UN headquarters, begging delegates to talk to
Maurice Strong, the head of the UNCED, to give
us a chance to address the meeting. We were introduced to Barbara Pile, Turner Broadcasting
Corporation, which covered the conference for
CNN and TBS. After inviting her to come to the
bomb shelter to tell the world of the plight of the
youth, our story was broadcasted globally. The
next morning, I encouraged a group of youth leaders to go to the UN. Initially wary, we stood our
ground when the UN’s security officers came but
were elated when told that the UNCED head asked
for us to address the meeting. Escorted into the
conference room, we were well prepared and passionately presented our 7-minute presentation in
seven different languages by seven youth leaders.
Due to our determination in Geneva, the youth
were included in the Earth Charter as a critical sector. Although I did not attend the Rio Earth Summit,
I was happy to learn that the UN encouraged member governments to include the youth on their
national delegations to the meeting. Wagaki
Mwangi, one of the youth leaders who attended
PREPCOM 3 of UNCED with us, represented
Kenyan youths in the national delegation to the
meeting in Brazil in 1992 and was selected by the
youth delegates at UNCED to address the conference on their behalf. Mwangi is currently working
as Communication and Media Officer, UNCCD, in
Bon, Germany. Dr. Paulette Bynoe from Guyana,
who also joined us at PREPCOM 3 of UNCED, is
still very active in representing her country at the
UNFCCC COPS and IPCC meetings.
After the preparatory meeting, we met at Lake
Geneva to establish the International Youth
Development and Environment Network
(IYDEN) and selected Mwangi as Chairperson.
IYDEN produced a significant publication on the
youth and environment in collaboration with the
Commonwealth Secretariat. Due to a lack of
financial resources, IYDEN ceased to function
after 2 years; it was costly to communicate with
members of the network pre-Internet era. Back
home in the Caribbean, I continued to work as a
volunteer with the youth to enhance the institutional capacity of national chapters of CYEN. The
Caribbean Conservation Association awarded
JEMS the Caribbean Conservation Award in
1993 for its work on conservation and community development issues in SVG, and I was
awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize by
the Goldman Environmental Foundation in 1994
for my continued work with youth, environmental and conservation issues across the Caribbean.
Utilising SWOT Analysis
in Assessing the Scope
of the Movement
Strengths
• Extensive use of social media (Instagram,
Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) provides opportu4 The Emergence of New Climatic Storms: Global Perspective on the Application…