Hi everyone!

I am excited to report to you on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference here in Durban, South Africa on behalf of Advocates for Youth, with my fellow colleagues and youth activists Leo, Lemuel and Roli representing our climate change youth advisory board from the Philippines, Mexico and India.  Some of you may ask, why is Advocates for Youth, an organization focused on young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, participating in a climate change conference

Climate change disproportionately affects women, especially young women, who are often the stewards of their area’s natural resources — as they must walk farther to collect water, work harder to produce crops from dry soil, and cope with drought, flooding and other natural disasters and disease. At the same time, empowered women an be particularly strong agents for sustainable change in their communities. 

- At least 215 million worldwide have an unmet need for family planning.

- Some regions, young women ages 15-19 are twice as likely to have an unmet need for family planning as women over twenty.

- For young women ages 15-19 in low and middle-income countries, complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death. 

-The ability to access SRH information and services is a human right that empowers young people to make healthy choices for themselves and their families.  Women who are empowered to manage the timing of their childbearing will be able to invest more resources in their children. So why are we here?

Advocates for Youth is here in Durban, because we believe that educating girls and boys, empowering women, meeting the demand for voluntary family planning, and ensuring access to comprehensive, youth-friendly SRH services is not only plan an important role in supporting human rights-but also in climate change mitigation and adaptation.  Of the 41 National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPs) that Least Developed Countries submitted to the UNFCCC in 2009, 37 countries identified population growth or high density as a factor making them more vulnerable to climate change  However, only six of them identified family planning as part of their adaptation strategy, and only one proposed an adaptation project that actually includes reproductive health and family planning.

We know that responding to the unmet need for family planning and supporting gifrls education is much less costly than low-carbon energy development options, including solar, wind, and nuclear power, second-generation biofuels, and carbon capture and storage.  In fact, for every $1 spent on international family planning efforts, governments save up to $31 in health are, water, education, housing and resources they need to provide for themselves and their families.  That is why we are asking for Member States in the negotiations of the climate change conference to prioritize and fully fund SRHR and family planning programs for women and youth in national strategies such as the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs), National Action Plans (NAPs) and future adaptation projects.

In the past few days, the Advocates for Youth delegation has participated in the Conference of Youth (COY), a three-day conference aiming for young people to come together to share information and develop strategies to effectively advocate for young people’s demands to Member States at the Climate Change Conference. 

During COY, Advocates for Youth in partnership with Population Action International, Sierra Club and World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, presented a workshop together titled, “Sex, Justice and Sustainability” (most likely the sexiest tile you can have at a climate change conference!).  The workshop was a really exciting opportunity for us to make these connections and to see how environmental youth activists understand why we can't talk about climate change without talking about population, health, gender and education.

Now that we’re here at the Conference in the actual negotiations, we are working to ensure that all delegates are familiar with the Time is Now campaign, pushing for SRHR to be a priority at the Conference, through passing out post cards,  flyers and our policy statement which outlines our specific recommendations.  We’re also identifying opportunities to meet with the UNFCCC Secretary, Ms. Figueres, our government delegations and youth activists interested in integrating SRHR advocacy into their work.

Leo and Roli, International Year of Youth journalists, will be interviewing delegates at the meeting about how they see these connections and why it’s important to integrate SRHR into climate change strategies.  We will also be blogging on a daily basis to make sure that you can stay up to date on our campaign efforts.

In week 2, our climate change advisory board members and youth activists, Orain from Jamaica and Blessing from Nigeria, will also be joining us to help leverage our Time is Now campaign efforts.

I personally am excited to be apart of this meeting, because SRHR is such a marginalized topic in climate change discussions making it all the more important that we are here to emphasize its importance.

If you're interested in learning more about Advocates' work on climate change and SRHR, contact me at mimi@advocatesforyouth.org.

Peace,
Mimi