13th and 14th October 2011
Preamble
We, the delegates to the Kenyan Youth Strategy Meeting for Rio +20 at the United Nations Complex at Gigiri, Nairobi:
Acknowledge the African indigenous knowledge of the sacred value of the environment to biodiversity wellbeing.
Commit to promote innovations that will develop a green economy and promote the eradication of poverty.
Take note of the past declarations towards environmental sustainability both at the African and Global level, there is an urgent need for structural and infrastructural interventions in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.
Recognize the current global environmental challenges, particularly climate change, which impact our common future and wellbeing, we commit ourselves to support of the following mechanisms:
- Good governance and transformative leadership.
- Promote Education, information exchange, communication and awareness
- Achieve sustainable agricultural practices to reduce hunger, starvation and enhance food security.
- Advocate for the development and implementation of sustainable development policies towards a Green Economy.
- Invest in and promote eco-friendly entrepreneurship and job creation.
- Attain sustainable green cities and villages.
- Promote public engagement and participation through culture and volunteerism.
- Promote Youth Development and capacity building
- Good Governance and Transformative Leadership
We recognize the role of good governance and transformative sustainable development leadership that is
at national and county levels. We reject governance that is weak on transitioning to a green economy and embrace that which promotes a green economy which engenders human well-being and social equity and respect for the natural environment, and the value of biodiversity and eco-systems, guided by, and accountable to, a new World Environment Organisation with universal membership by all UN Member States. We also call for mechanisms in such new institutions that allow for youth participation in decision-making.
Youth delegations have to be engaged at all levels of governance in discussing benchmarks for the green economy. The Youth need to be involved in efforts towards policy formulation and development of institutional frameworks. Additionally, youth participation should be integrated at local, national and international assessments towards the development of an index for measuring the progress towards a green economy.
Promote Education, information exchange, communication and awareness
We recommend the adoption of green economy and sustainable development education material at all levels of education and public training initiatives by 2014. We intend to achieve this through the creation of various information sharing methods to various segments of the society.
We acknowledge that education underpins awareness; and awareness is critical to the spread of sustainable development principles through multiple levels in society.
Education serves as a hub for understanding the types of information to be considered when thinking about the green economy; how monitoring will be shaped in the context of the information identified as relevant; and the role of education on the environment to serve as a communication/public awareness tool on sustainable development.
Build an understanding toward the intersection of business, environment and society, in educating all people about the tenets critical to achieve sustainable development, especially the Youth.
Action: Build a national curriculum standard that promotes business in a green society. 2015
Action: Educate students in primary and secondary schools on the green economy by creating incentives that allow NGOs, student groups or CBOs to serve as ambassadors for education of the green economy. 2015
Action: Build a monitoring service from the information-discovered. Discovery of information should be an integrated process involving key stakeholders with a special emphasis on Youth. Progress towards sustainable development goals should be identified as key thematic working groups, using poverty alleviation and institutional reform as output goals, and involvement of youth and CBOs as an inherent part of the process. 2018
Achieve sustainable agricultural practices to reduce hunger, starvation and enhance food security.
Whereas recognizing the interrelation between our national forest cover and agricultural productivity we recommend the following measures;
- Increasing our national forest cover to 10% from the current 2% by the year 2015 through creation of green parks, promoting agroforestry and sustainable agribusiness.
- Phasing out of hazardous chemical fertilizers in arable farming by the year 2015.
- Promoting the utilization of the green energy technologies to enhance affordable agricultural production.
Advocate for the development and implementation of sustainable development policies towards a Green Economy.
Develop sustainability measures and indicators against which government programmes can be measured and assessed.
Advocate for the legislation of policies on sustainable development that regulate the corporations’ adherence to green economy modules.
Ensure that approximately 25% of the annual government development budget goes towards program initiatives on sustainable development, with clear indication on targets towards green growth in community development and individual technological entrepreneurship. 15% of the 5% funding should be geared towards mobilizing and benchmarking activities to demarcate marginal change of youth involvement in the green economy. 35% of that “Sustainable Development funding” should be geared towards supporting renewable energy and zero-carbon activities that are both sustainable and demonstrably financially viable, in a local and youth-oriented level. 2013
Ensure the programmatic and structural archetype of an environmental body that can hold nations and member-states accountable for reporting and making transparent their pathways and transitions towards a green economy. 2015
Ensure that the youth are fully represented at the National Land Commission.
Invest in and promote eco-friendly entrepreneurship and job creation.
Establish independent institutional mechanisms for promoting green entrepreneurship and growth among youth.
Set up an independent fund to provide start-up financing for green enterprises by youth
Promote technological, business and social innovation through creating enabling policy environment and platforms
Invest in business models that promote community development
Promote alternative and innovative funding and investment in youth green enterprises such as crowd-funding
Sensitize youth at all levels on green entrepreneurship through different channels such as new media
Create enabling business and policy environment for green entrepreneurship, for example, tax waivers for youth green enterprises
Promote public engagement and participation through culture and volunteerism.
We recognize the aspect of culture and indigenous knowledge that embraced green economy through agroforestry, organic fertilizers for sustainable development.
For sustainable development towards green economy, we recommend the need for selfless/political willingness from all levels of governance, private sector and individuals in promoting the green economy.
We recommend that; at all levels of policy formulation and participation, there is need for public engagement and concurrence which will enhance easy implementation and sustainability.
We stand for investment, documentation, promotion and development of best practices in cultural beliefs and practices that further conservation and renewable energy founded on indigenous knowledge.
Promotion of community and youth-led exchanges is key in this regard for effective sharing and transfer of green growth skills through access and exchange of information.
We appreciate that volunteerism will act as a means of inculcating community ownership of sustainable development initiatives.
Harness public engagement and Youth volunteerism to benchmark progress on the role of corporations in sustainable development through Corporate Socially Responsible initiatives.
Attain sustainable green cities and villages
Develop an independent institution to assess business models for micro-enterprises to assess their suitability for tax benefits and other incentives. And to regulate and ensure that micro-enterprises do not compromise environmental sustainability.
Develop comprehensive waste management systems by:
- Placing increased emphasis on waste separation and recycling systems;
- Establishing dug-in decomposition landfills where decomposable materials are put to decompose; once decomposed the material can be used as organic manure.
Establish awards to recognize and celebrate the effort of cities and villages that take significant steps in transforming into green cities and villages.
Regulate transportation to reduce congestion by:
- Establishing dedicated lanes for public transport vehicles and
- Implement mass transport systems such as rail transport.
Promote Youth Development and capacity building
In order to facilitate and further build capacity in youth to fully engage in and drive development processes to address the above priority areas, we call upon our governments to:
Adopt a Youth Development Index as an indicator of the welfare of the youth in the countries; and as a measure of the youth development.
Review existing and develop new policies and legislation to:
Promote youth innovation and entrepreneurship through structures such as:
- Technology and Business incubation centres
Protect these innovations through structures and measures such as:
- Strong and easily accessible Intellectual Property protection
- Moderate and accommodative tax regimes
Promoting youth participation in international forums through
- Incorporating youth delegations as part of national delegations to international conferences
- Providing funding for youth to participate at international
- Incorporating youth in National policy formulation and implementation
Develop and strengthen national and local structures to provide support and training for youth organizations with emphasis in the areas of:
- Establishment of community and youth led organizations
- Leadership and organizational management
Require that all government ministries establish youth offices and develop and implement youth engagement strategies to streamline youth participation in the work of the ministries.
Convene national and local youth forums to discuss matters relevant to youth development and make recommendations for action in support of youth development by state and non-state actors.
Improve youth access to information especially with regard to rural communities and informal urban settlements, through Establishment of community ICT Digital Villages
Conclusion
We, as young people, this is what we declare and recommend our government, individuals, businesses, development organizations and all stakeholders to undertake ahead of Rio+20 and beyond. Any action to be taken affects us and our future generation to a greater extent. We care about our planet and we will all work together in creating a more sustainable era. Green Economy is Achievable.
The East African Community is deepening and widening cooperation among its 5 member states. Spurred by the need to expand markets, boost competitiveness and attract investment, East African countries have continued to take steps to make it easier for local firms to start up and operate.
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