Kampala – The Africa Youth Mobilisation 4 COP (AYM4COP) campaign has been officially launched to advocate for active youth participation in climate negotiations. The Youth Climate Movement (YOUNGO), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)'s official children and youth constituency, is spearheading the campaign. According to Nadia Owusu, the communications lead for AYM4COP, young people face systemic challenges that limit their participation in international climate change discourse. "As such, this campaign was birthed solely to ensure young Africans are unified and speak with one voice in all climate change processes leading to the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and beyond," Owusu said. COP27 will be held in November 2022. Last year, many young people failed to make it to COP26 in Glasgow, because of lack of badges and funding. UK based Uganda climate activist Rose Kobusinge said in an interview last year that even those in Glasgow found themselves frozen out, in what she calls "total exclusion" that should not be allowed to continue. Another Ugandan climate activist, Edward Namakanga, had to use a ship to be able to reach the venue in Glasgow where the COP26 was being held. Owusu, the AYM4COP communications lead, said that such systematic challenges are what make the campaign even more important. "The campaign is made of five working groups: Partnerships and Fundraising, Communications, Research Education and Training (RET), Regional Conference of Youth (RCOY) Africa, and the Africa Youth Climate Action Plan (AYCAP) to tackle funding, training, and capacity building for youth negotiators and to provide a concrete youth action plan that is centred on African youth," she said. Owusu urged climate youth activists, advocates, influencers, youth-led organisations, institutions, and donors to join forces with them to reach their shared goal of mobilising African youth at this year's COP27.
