Children demand greater participation in Loss and Damage Conferences

Children have called for greater participation in climate change discussions, emphasizing the need for their voices to be heard in Loss and Damage Conferences.

Hortensia Faison and Desire Nangwale, child advocates from Chinsapo Township in Lilongwe, made the call at the 5th African Regional Conference on Loss and Damage, which took place in Lilongwe last week.

The conference focused on the need for sustainable financing mechanisms to address loss and damage caused by climate change. Participants called for grants rather than debt-based funding, citing the debt trap many countries in the Global South are already facing.

Hortensia and Desire highlighted the urgent need to prioritize children’s rights in climate change discussions.

“We want to be part of the solution. The future belongs to us, and we need to be included in the discussions,” said Hortensia.

On the other hand, Desire, a student at Mbinzi Secondary School, emphasized the importance of sensitizing communities about climate change mitigation.

“I will tell my friends, tell your friend to tell a friend. We need to work together to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he said.

Concurring with Hortensia and Desire, Senior Manager for Campaigns, Communications, and Media at Save the Children, John Chipeta, said children are one of the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change, and it’s critical that their voices are heard in these discussions.

Chipeta therefore emphasized the need for technical assistance and resources to support vulnerable communities.

In a separate interview, National Coordinator for CISONECC, Julius Ng’oma, called for sustainable and increased financing to enable communities move with speed to the communities.

In his remarks when closing the conference, Principal Secretary Richard Perekamoyo emphasized the importance of collective action to address climate change.

“We must move beyond dialogue to action. The real measure of our success will be the impact of the actions we take after this conference,” said Perekamoyo.

The conference concluded with a call to action, urging participants to work together to protect communities and strengthen resilience across Africa.

Key takeaways from the conference included children demanding greater participation in Loss and Damage Conferences, sustainable financing mechanisms are needed to address loss and damage caused by climate change, grants rather than debt-based funding are preferred and technical assistance and resources are needed to support vulnerable communities.

The participants agreed that collective action is necessary to address climate change and protect communities.

 

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