Keeping SIDS on the agenda
UNICEF supporting children and young people to raise their voice where it matters.
The recent devastation wrought by Hurricane Beryl in early July, as it ripped through the Caribbean and beyond, leaving flooding, storm surges, broken buildings and shattered lives, brought the bitter realities of the climate crisis into stark relief.
As Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Caribbean nations are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change, with children and young and people bearing the brunt, both physically and psychologically, with bodies less able to cope with weather emergencies and pollution.
Young activists and visionaries from across the globe recognize this existential threat to their future and they are coalescing, strategizing, organizing and building a movement to ensure that their voices are heard in international dialogues. UNICEF’s Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area has been instrumental in opening up pathways to greater youth engagement in such arenas.
A landmark Summit
In a groundbreaking move, on the eve of the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) held in Antigua and Barbuda at the end of May, 90 youth activists came together for the landmark Children and Youth Action Summit (CYAS). Representing the three SIDS regions; the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea, delegates championed and ratified a Commitment to Action, a 10-year plan that will mirror the new Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS, the conference outcome document.
Continue reading this story at the website of UNICEF Eastern Caribbean.
Written by
UN entities involved in this initiative
Goals we are supporting through this initiative
