On International Youth Day (August 12), Plan International launched the Youth in Action (YLA) program to address gender and climate change issues in Asia.
The YLA program is designed to encourage and support young people, especially young women, in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand to actively participate in climate change response activities.
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| Activities in response to Plant International Vietnam's program for young people. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
With a grant of up to $350,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, Plan International Asia-Pacific supports 40 young people (70% of whom are women) to take climate action in their communities through capacity building training programs and implementing local environmental initiatives.
The program is expected to last from May 2024 to December 2025 and includes two main phases.
In the first phase, 40 selected young people will participate in intensive training sessions on environment, climate change, and gender equality in climate change response.
The next phase will support eight projects proposed and implemented by young people, with each project receiving a funding of $2,000.
“The climate crisis is threatening the future of our young people, even though they have played a small part in causing it,” said Deepali Khanna, Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation for Asia.
Youth engagement in climate change response is essential to galvanizing community concern and action.
We are proud to support Plan International in implementing this program and believe it will help spread the voices and creative ideas of young people globally.”
“This program demonstrates our commitment to supporting young people to become more actively involved in climate change response activities; helping to expand the audience that Plan International is working with in achieving the global goal of improving the lives of 200 million girls facing risks from climate change,” said Ms. Bhagyashri Dengle, Director of Asia-Pacific at Plan International.
One of the program’s key initiatives is the use of the Youth Action Platform – a regional initiative of Plan International, along with social media channels, reaching at least 2.5 million users across the Asia-Pacific region.
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| The program was organized online for a number of Vietnamese students studying abroad. (Source: Organizing Committee) |
The interest of young people, especially girls and young women, in the field of climate change is expected to create strong changes, encourage more young people to participate and attract the attention of stakeholders.
The program also provides opportunities for young people to participate in international forums on climate change such as the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) and the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP).
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