Children, Agriculture Climate & Environment.
The climate crisis is an inter-generational crisis that affects children and their rights now, and in the future, and severely risks deepening inequalities across borders and generations.
Intro:
It is now generally agreed that climate change poses one of the greatest challenges facing the world in the 21st century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) notes that climate change, if not tackled, will have a severe negative impact on global water supply, agricultural yields, marine ecosystems and the spread of vector-borne diseases, and could result in the displacement of thousands of people from coastal cities and small islands (Kenya climate change action plan).
Current climate change policies and actions in Kenya, and world-over, do not provide effective support for community engagement in decision making, nor sustainable livelihoods and environmental conservation. It is because of this that CRALAF has a Children and Climate Change Program that aims at strengthening the understanding and capacity of rural communities with a focus on children, to act against climate change, as well as raising awareness nationally on the role of local communities particularly children and forests in tackling climate change. The climate crisis is an inter generational crisis that affects children and their rights now, and in the future, and severely risks deepening inequalities across borders and generations.
The climate crisis is affecting children and their rights fast and worst, and will continue to affect future generations of children. Children are demanding climate action and providing leadership on how the climate crisis should be addressed.
Their voices must not only be heard, but must be seen to be heard and their participation heard, seen and felt. Climate events and summits at all levels are rarely inclusive of children; we advocate for their inclusion and participation in all areas of Climate and environment change discussions and actual leads in remedies or actions. We champion direct and actual child participation in correcting the menace through direct interaction with the children and youth.
We adopt the following approach:
- Lobbying and Advocacy – Policy formation and lobbying for their Implementation
- Media, Civic Education and sensitization -to encourage children and communities to take lead in environment preservation.
- Collaboration with stakeholders and like-minded organization.
- Research and Documentation.
CRALAF will be able to collect data on effects of climate change in the households and lobby for implementation of Government strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change. The Climate Resilient Parenting campaign will engage parents through social media and local TV news, together with a grassroots community education initiative in partnership with community organizations.
CRALAF also employs the following strategies:
- Provide children with accurate knowledge of how their environment is changing, how the same is affecting them now and in the future if they do nothing about it and what can be done to reduce the impacts of climate change.
- Guide adults on having developmentally appropriate discussions about climate change with children of different ages
- Help young people manage emotional distress related to climate change and focus their concerns on constructive action.
- Build youth skills in mitigation efforts and improve their communities’ prospects.
- Prepare young people to enter the careers communities will need as the planet changes.
- Mobilize and encourage actual physical child participation by advancing a culture of preserving and cleaning their environment, planting and nurturing trees – this is done through various partnership g., with the Ministry of Education to engage with schools for grass-root approach under our slogan “MTOTO NA MAZINGIRA” where we have Children and Climate Clubs (C3 Clubs)
- Mobilize and have children views presented in International and National fora for discussing issues related with environment and climate change by themselves.
- Monitor implementation of Key Government strategies to mitigate climate change through regular engagement.