Children and young people who took part in Save the Children’s virtual conversation titled “Responding to Climate Crisis: With and for Children and Youth” indicated that combating climate change is impossible without the assistance of experts and policymakers. According to Red Alert Campaign spokesperson Sohanur Rahman, the virtual conversation took place on Wednesday (18 August) via online video streaming platform Zoom and was streamed live on the social media site Facebook.
During the virtual conversation, children and youth sought transparency in the fight against climate change, as well as young participation in climate fund spending. In this regard, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, stated, “We gain confidence when we see this kind of enthusiasm and aspiration in young people because we know our future is in safe and secure hands. Unless things are moved to the implementation level immediately, all of the debates and discussions would be for nought.”
“The Ministry of Planning has an implementation, monitoring, and evaluation department. It will be very fruitful if adolescents and young people are taken into consideration when evaluating projects and asked for their opinion on whether their needs have been met in the implementation of the project, the situation they had before the implementation of the project, and whether it has changed after the implementation. I’ll bring it up at the next meeting of the standing committee “Saber added to the conversation.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change was the program’s principal guest. Sohanur Rahman, Coordinator, YouthNet Climate Justice, Aysha Akter Diya, Green Club Member, Ali Hossen Girls’ High School, Dhaka, and Sabiya Akter Mim, Monpura Govt. College, Bhola were among the children and youth that attended the event.
Reefat Bin Sattar, Director of Program Development and Quality at Save the Children Bangladesh, facilitated the discussion. Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change; AKM Mamunur Rashid, Climate Change Specialist, UNDP Bangladesh; Dr Sharmind Neelormi, Professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University; Fatema Halima Ahmed, Coordinator, Resource Management, Communication, and Partnership, Uttaran; and Dr N.
