CLIMATE YES AT UN CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE 2024

Article provided by Augustine Muema

On the 9th and 10th of May 2024, the United Nations organised a civil society conference in Nairobi which attracted around 3,000 people in preparation for the summit of the future which aims to create the conditions in which implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development can be readily achieved, the summit will be held in September 2024.

Climate YES members joined civil society representatives, government representatives, senior United Nations officials, youth changemakers, academia, other stakeholders, and media at the Nairobi conference.
The Climate Yes members got the chance to engage in discussions and attend different sessions of the conference especially the faith-based, youth and intergenerational, environment and technology, Human rights and peace sessions which attracted many young people.

We also got the privilege to have one of our members Miss. Ashley Kitisya speak as a panellist at one of the key sessions of the conference on the Unheard voices of the future, a session that brought together people of different generations to discuss the key issues that are not being addressed and need to be given attention globally especially matters of the grassroot youths, local communities, supporting innovation and drafting the UN policies and declarations in a language that the local community can understand better before being implemented.

The conference provided a platform for the faith leaders, faith-based organizations and institutions to gather and strategize on how they can revive the zeal of advocating for change in society by working together and also by amplifying their voices by joining hands and speaking in a common voice.

It gave room for intergenerational dialogues about the ‘futures’ as both the young and old engaged in discussions on matters that are influencing the two generations and also increased awareness, ambition and accountability for the Summit of the Future, build multi-stakeholder Impact Coalitions to
champion, act on and push forward big-ticket reforms proposed in consensus language of the Pact, and to innovate the way civil society and other stakeholders interact with intergovernmental processes. Through the discussions and engagement of this conference, we hope the key issues that were raised in the declaration will influence the summit of the future and be given priority.