The official session of the 2023 Children and Youth Parliament took place on November 20 at the National Assembly of Cape Verde, in Cidade da Praia. This educational and participatory event, which aims to involve young people in the country’s political and social issues, featured an extraordinary session under the theme “The Convention on the Rights of the Child and Climate Action”.

World Children’s Day is celebrated on November 20, a date that in 2023 marks the 34th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). With this note in mind, this year the Children and Youth Parliament (PIJ – Parlamento InfantoJuvenil) had an extraordinary session under the theme “The Convention on the Rights of the Child and Climate Action”.

The PIJ took place under the format of a National Parliamentary Assembly, with children and adolescents as its protagonists. The work revolved around the Rights of the Child and their relationship with climate change. There was a boost in activities, via participatory methods and interactive tools, on the relationship between the UNCRC and climate action, passing on and increasing children and adolescents’ knowledge about the risks and opportunities of climate change to fully pursue their rights.

The children’s deputies, who had already done their “homework” in their localities, organized themselves into groups to confer about their rights and their relationship with climate change. The result of the group/thematic work was compiled and placed in a manifesto addressed to the Government, as well as to the Cape Verdean delegation participating in the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28, taking place in Dubai from November 30th to December 12th) – symbolically giving the delegation the mandate to negotiate at COP28 on behalf of the children and adolescents of Cape Verde.

The National Assembly broadcasted live the Children and Youth Parliament, which closed with the reading of the summary document of the Commemorative Session of the 34th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (which was delivered to the Government and the President of the National Assembly) and included a message from the First Vice-President of the National Assembly, Armindo da Luz.

Manifesto for the planet

Considering that climate change is not a distant threat, but a daily reality, and that children are more vulnerable to its impacts, the manifesto produced at PIJ warns that our communities and our ecosystems, terrestrial and marine, are already facing worrying transformations and harmful consequences due to climate change.

In the document, Cape Verde’s children and youth deputies urge leaders and Governments to work together to ensure compliance with children’s rights, guaranteeing a healthy and safe environment for their development. And they highlight the following measures:

– Invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, and increase the use of public transport and soft mobility to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

– Implement reforestation programs to preserve local ecosystems, absorb carbon dioxide and protect against harmful effects of climate change, such as soil erosion and loss of nutrients.

– Promote sustainable agricultural practices by supporting our farmers in adopting planting and cultivation techniques that include water conservation and drought resistance.

– Create conditions so that families that depend on agriculture, livestock and fishing have guarantees of subsistence and economic prosperity, creating more jobs and providing more support for the most vulnerable families and communities.

– Invest in water production and conservation infrastructure (such as reservoirs and water retention systems) and invest in the desalination of seawater using renewable energy to combat water scarcity and increase food security through agriculture.

– Strengthen health systems, with investments in infrastructure and the training of health professionals to deal with the challenges arising from climate change. Also implement prevention and adaptation measures such as improving epidemiological surveillance to monitor and respond to climate-related diseases.

– Encourage the construction of sustainable housing that is energy efficient and uses low climate impact materials.

– Prevent and monitor construction on slopes, in coastal areas and areas most exposed to the risk of catastrophes due to the current and future impacts of coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

  – Establish climate monitoring systems to collect relevant data and predict extreme weather events, through the operationalization of early warning systems.

– Integrate climate change into all school curricula, from basic education to higher education, and develop training programs for teachers to address issues related to climate change in their subjects.

– Promote activities that promote information, education, and awareness about climate issues.

– Fund and support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that develop actions and projects on climate change.

– Actively support municipal councils, providing resources and training so that they can implement adaptation and mitigation strategies, ensuring that local communities are well prepared to face climate challenges.

– Create ambitious political agreements with other countries to combat climate change.

Path taken from 1999 to 2023

The first session of the Children and Youth Parliament took place in 1999; and since 2003, the need to repeat this democratic exercise has become pressing, taking into account its symbolic value and its pedagogical nature, which is why a collaboration protocol was signed between the National Assembly and the then Ministries of Education, Culture and Sports, and ICCA – Instituto Cabo-verdiano da Criança e do Adolescente (Cape Verdean Institute for Children and Adolescents). Since June 1999, PIJ has been organized as a way of promoting the child’s right to effective participation in Cape Verdean social life.

PIJ has become a space for participation, a democratic culture of reflection and debate, where children freely express their opinions. This is why the DNA – Direção Nacional do Ambiente (National Directorate of the Environment) – through the Programa Ação Climática (Climate Action Program) implemented by it, with the support of cooperation from Luxembourg –, prepared the Climate Communication Plan, approved last July in a Council of Ministers session by the Resolution No. 55/2023, proposing that extraordinary sessions of the PIJ be held with the aim of supporting young people and adolescents to integrate climate action (the 13th Sustainable Development Goal) in their demands, relating it to the UNCRC and their rights.

The organization of PIJ this year was ensured by a team that includes representatives of partner institutions, from DNA/Programa Ação Climática to ICCA, including the National Directorate of Education, the National Assembly, Aldeias SOS, among others.