Are you from an African Commonwealth country, between 18-30 years old and engaged in youth parliaments, non-governmental organizations or youth dealing with environment or climate change?
Apply to join as part of a selected group the Youth Parliament – Climate Change special session from September 7-9, 2011 in London, England.
Application deadline: 5 August 2011. Please see application details below.
The goal of the conference is to empower youth parliamentary groups and help them to engage Members of Parliament (MPs) more effectively in issues around climate change.
The World Bank Institute (WBI) announces this call for applications jointly with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).
Background:
Climate change is one of the major challenges facing the world. Many countries, especially developing nations, have already been impacted by climate change. This has affected their development as a result of adverse impacts on sectors such as agriculture, food security, human health and tourism and further exacerbated by ongoing pressures such as land degradation, water scarcity and underdevelopment.
Governments have an important role to play, providing information, incentives, and an economic environment to foster adaptation and mitigation actions, engaging in new opportunities such as those stemming from climate finance and green technologies. Parliaments have major responsibilities in the climate change and sustainable development agenda through their key role in developing and passing legislation and holding governments accountable to climate change related commitments and objectives.
Objectives
By participating in this conference youth leaders will:
- deepen their knowledge and understanding of climate change;
- develop a strategy on how youth can engage their national and/or constituency MPs on climate change issues;
- develop a work plan on how the strategy can be operationalized and mainstreamed into national climate change development agendas;
- be empowerd to become actively involved in climate change issues and encourage effective networking across regions for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices.
Selection and Eligibility Criteria
Submit a completed two page application in English (see annex for the template) which summarizes:
- Current involvement and a proven track record as a member of a Youth Parliament either at the local, national or international level for at least one year prior to the application;
- A proven track record of involvement or affiliation with a registered organization or NGO, at least one year prior to the application, working on environment and/or climate change related issues;
- Experience or knowledge in either sustainable development or youth leadership, development activities and/or climate change;
- Effective communication and excellent written and oratory skills;
- Citizenship from a Commonwealth African country and within the age group 18-30 years.
- Have an interest in the Commonwealth and political affairs
Selected candidates will be expected to write a 15 page report during the conference session on how youth can better engage MPs to enhance transparency on climate change issues. Other items may be expected and will be communicated to participants.
Air travel cost at economy level, accommodation, and meals will be covered by WBI and CPA.
The outcome of this conference will be a report that will be incorporated into a future CPA / WBI publication on parliaments and climate change.
Submission deadline and further information:
Application Form
The applications must be submitted by midnight (24:00 hours) US Eastern Standard Time on 5 August, 2011 to Program team representative Iretomiwa Olatunji through email: iolatunji@worldbank.org. Successful applicants will be notified by 8 August, 2011.
