From 3 to 5 December, engaged youth and government representatives from across the Caribbean Small Island Developing States gathered in Havana, Cuba for the II UNESCO´s International Science School/III MOST School. It was the first UNESCO capacity-building exercise for the Caribbean youth which was held in this format.
This event was held as a UNESCO Science School on “Promoting youth leadership on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the Caribbean" by bridging research, knowledge and decision-making in an interactive workshop setting. The participants were exchanging ideas and best practice solutions on climate change to finalize the Caribbean Youth Network on Climate Change, which was launched on the third workshop day.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay took advantage from her visit to Cuba to join the launch event. She was welcomed with the “we, young people” manifesto, a collection of ideas and demands of young Caribbean voices for Climate Action.
The newly launched Youth Network aims to strengthen collaborative learning spaces for young scientists, activists, and government officials, to further enhance the contribution of youth through research and civic engagement in relation to public policies for climate change adaptation in the Caribbean, centred on the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the region.
The workshop in Havana was made possible through a collaborative endeavor between diverse international science programmes operated by UNESCO, and UNESCO offices across the region, such as UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean based in Havana, the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean based in Kingston and CITMA, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment as the local implementation partner.
The event drew on the experience of the previous year from the first UNESCO International Science School/ II MOST School of Cuba on “Building resilient societies through the links between research, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Caribbean”.