As we walk on the streets of Kathmandu city, it’s next to impossible to walk freely without using a mask. Even before the appearance of COVID19, Nepalese had no chance to leave their homes without a mask mainly because of air pollution. We have been hearing news about massive floods in some regions whereas droughts in some other regions. All these fall under environmental issues; issues like global warming and climate change, loss of biodiversity. These may sound fancy but to be honest they are actually happening in the world and our country as well and with no doubt they are as serious issues as different non-communicable diseases.
Environment is one of the most important keys to be understood by everyone before jumping to initiate and implement any project idea. While planning and executing any project idea, it is utmost important to understand the project’s positive and negative impacts on the environment. It will eventually help to make the project more sustainable and effective.
Nepal Youth Council has been always prioritizing Climate Change, Sanitation as one of the major thematic areas since its establishment. We organized different events on World Environment Day each year with the support of our partner organizations. In2019, we organized a National level Sanitation Program in all the provinces on the occasion of World . Recently, we organized a seed fund implementation program on the theme of Climate Change Initiatives where 7 best ideas were selected among 21 ideas from seven different provinces. Each province will be provided Rs.50,000 by Coca-Cola Bottlers Nepal (Terai) Limited. NYC also conducted an event collaboratively on the topic “COP26 Outcomes and Experience Sharing by Nepali COP26 representatives” on Texas college in 2021.
Our main motive to include the environment as our thematic area is that we believe engaging youth in environmental protection not only creates a direct impact on changing youth behaviors and attitudes, but also influences their parents, relatives and families. The participation of youth in environmental protection starting from grass-roots activism and participation in conservation projects can eventually lead them in policy-making bodies and NGOs. So, NYC aims to raise awareness and educate youths of our country to take action from their personal level towards environmental conservation to create a world more sustainable and eco-friendly.
