5 Key Take Aways from African Youth on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change
The continental expansion of the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change (KDMECC-AFRICA) at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi involved collective efforts from key players — African youth among them. The newly signed KDMECC-AFRICA is recognized as the first comprehensive and action-oriented declaration led by African Member States to address challenges and seek opportunities arising from climate-induced human mobility.
Prior to the signing of this historic declaration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) partnering with the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration through the Africa Regional Migration Program convene over 70 youth from Africa in Nairobi as a capacity enhancement strategy to improve their knowledge and understanding of the link between climate change and human mobility.
The youth-led event featured interactive sessions on human mobility in the context of climate change, different regional and global policy processes and a critical evaluation of the initial Youth Statement and Key Messages developed in 2022, during the signing of the regional KDMECC in Kampala, Uganda. Through a guided simulation exercise, attendees restructured the key messages to reflect areas of concern, good practices and youth commitments in addressing climate-induced human mobility at a continental level for consideration into the KDMECC-AFRICA.
Here are five key takeaways from the Youth Engagement Forum in Nairobi on “Strengthening African Youth Voices on Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change”.
1. Youth Are Motivated Now More Than Ever to Engage on the Human Mobility and Climate Change Nexus
The Youth Engagement Forum gathered over 70 young persons from 36 African countries and provided them with a platform for a meaningful youth engagement in policy-making processes — an area often sought after by young people.
It is impressive that close to 3,000 young persons from across the continent applied to participate in this forum, demonstrating the wide interest and eagerness of African youth to engage on human mobility and climate change nexus.
“Anyone can become a climate migrant today or tomorrow. Vulnerable communities are facing massive climate-related displacements and losses that could be avoided through planned, safe and regular migration and relocation. That is why I push myself to raise awareness on the issues arising from climate change-linked mobility but also the opportunities it brings,” explains Rose Kobusinge from Uganda, one of the youth moderators from the forum.
From the post-event survey, many participants expressed their appreciation for the platform to share their thoughts on addressing climate migration and being placed in the same room with like-minded individuals with a common goal — climate action.
2. The Adverse Effects of Climate Change Are Altering Human Mobility Patterns
At the forum, attendees held a live discussion on Instagram where selected regional representatives spoke about the specific areas of concern regarding human mobility and climate change in their region. Sara Bochola from Ethiopia in East Africa highlighted the devastating droughts and their impacts to lives and livelihoods of local communities in her country.
“My community is a pastoralist community, and we depend on livestock for livelihood,” Sara explained. “The lack of rain has caused the lack of grazing land and pasture (which also influences movements of pastoralists). Hundreds and thousands of cattle have died and that has caused famine because we depend on cattle for their milk, for their meat, and for income.”
On the contrary, Patrick Samuels pointed out that Sierra Leone in West Africa faces periods of excessive rainfall that causes landslides and flooding, forcing people to move.
“Back in 2017, we experienced one of the most devastating natural hazards which led to thousands of people losing their lives and thousands more were displaced.” He goes on to explain, “The root cause of the mudslides and the floodings is the result of high rate of deforestation.”
Finally, in a separate discussion on Twitter, Mercy Mukwane from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa shared how sporadic rainfall in her country — where people depend on agriculture — is driving them to move to larger cities. “The issue is we don’t have enough rainfall, which means that people have lost their livelihoods,” she stated. “People now move from the rural to urban areas where they do odd jobs for meager pay.”
3. Youth Are Eager to Actively Involve in Climate Action But…
One clear takeaway from this forum was that young people have innovative solutions to address challenges and opportunities of human mobility in the context of climate change, but they need recognition as leaders, financial support, and other resources to implement them.
“For us to be true to the Africa we want, we need to create it as young people,” Patrick Samuels emphasized. “We need to have the necessary skills in order to create the future we seek.”
Laurel Kivuyo from the United Republic of Tanzania in Eastern Africa agreed by stating, “we really need knowledge transfer and capacity building for young people. We need funding and finances to support people who are moving from one place to another.”
Some youth are taking the matters of financing climate solutions into their hands.
For Nsama Patrick Mpundu from Zambia in Southern Africa, this means investment. “This event has really helped inspire me to work on my ventures of investing in climate preparedness for my region in southern Africa. Building more sustainable infrastructure which can withstand potential climate disasters, as well as also investing in knowledge gaps by using information technology to create advance warning systems for climate prone areas.”
4. Youth Were Able to Agree on an Approach to Move Forward
One of the key outcomes of the forum was the restructuring of the key messages that served as a framework to incorporate the voices of young people into the expanded Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change later at the African Climate Summit.at the African Climate Summit.
While the full document is available online in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese, a brief summary of their key recommendations include:
· Human Mobility as an Adaptation Strategy: recognize planned and regular migration and relocation as an adaptation strategy from now onwards in policy and practice. Embed human rights and gender-transformative approaches into policies and establish guidelines for planned relocation, migrant and diaspora support, and protection.
● Youth Inclusion in Decision-Making: ensure the meaningful participation of African youth in migration, environment, and climate change decisions at all levels. Youth and children are a vulnerable group but also have experience, knowledge, and valuable solutions, and prioritize their voices. Establish regional youth climate mobility advisory committees.
● Climate Finance Access: Mobilize local and international funding while eliminating the barriers and bureaucracies limiting access to finance for safe and regular migration, planned relocation, resilience building, early warning systems and addressing loss and damage. Further, establish a dedicated youth climate mobility fund for the implementation of our commitments towards the KDMECC and create green jobs. In addition, establish a transparent and accountable financial framework to ensure finance reaches the youth and the most vulnerable.
● Stakeholder Collaboration: promote multi-stakeholder partnerships, including youth-led organizations, to accelerate climate action. Include youth in decision-making processes at all levels as equal partners with meaningful roles and incentives.
● Community Resilience and Capacity Building: Strengthen youth and local communities’ adaptive capacity by investing in education, adaptation programmes, and green jobs for youth. Enhance disaster risk reduction efforts and infrastructure projects.
● Data and Research Integration: Collect and share accurate data on climate-induced migration. Utilize local knowledge and scientific research to inform policies and strategies, while establishing in-time monitoring centres.
● Legal Frameworks for Climate Migrants: Develop policy and legal frameworks to protect and empower climate migrants while ensuring gender sensitivity in policies for equitable solutions.
5. African Youth Voices Will Have a Big Role to Play at COP28
A Technical Conference of States followed the Youth Engagement Forum and convened 48 African States to inclusively expand the Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change Continentally through an Addendum (KDMECC-AFRICA). Selected regional youth representatives from the forum remained in Nairobi to attend the three-day conference, where they ensured their key messages and experiences were heard and incorporated into the expanded declaration.
The signing of the KDMECC–AFRICA at the African Climate Summit, assured the recommendations and commitments made by youth at the forum will be carried onward.
In addition, the youth key messages contributed to the Africa Youth Climate Assembly (AYCA) — official Regional Conference of Youth (RCOY) Africa, Youth Nairobi Declaration ahead of Africa Climate Summit, as well as supports the Conference of Youth (COY18) and Conference of Parties (COP28). Visibility for the messages were enhanced throughout the AYCA and the Africa Climate Summit as several youth from the forum participated in different sessions.
Moving forward, young people in Africa intend on making their voices and recommendations heard when it comes to implementing solutions to climate migration.
This sentiment was best explained by Manal Bidar from Morocco in Northern Africa, “If we’re talking about skills and experience, there’s a lot of us young people. We’re going to force our seats at the tables of the negotiations and we’re going to prove to everyone again, that our voices matter and that we’re ready to do something about climate change.”
With COP 28 set to take place in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates from 30 November until 12 December, it will be important to keep an eye out for young African climate and human mobility advocates as they amplify their voices.
