10 Days For the Mediterranean – 30 young CSO leaders acting for the environment02.12.2020
Thirty young Maghreb and Mashreq civil society leaders returned from Med Dialogue Fellows’ 1st bootcamp to their home society and developed their project ideas for a 4-month incubation period, accompanied by technical support from the EU-funded Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality regional Programme’s team, and working with their local communities to create change on the ground and the policy level.
On june 1st 2020 the Med Dialogue Fellows launched their unique ecological initiatives , within the framework of the regional common action “10 Days for the Mediterranean” . Equipped with the know-how in project development, management and communication, the young civil society leaders, have defined four main themes: Climate change, Agroecology and forests, plastic waste, and marine pollution, to promote sustainable ecological practices and environmental protection measures across 10 Mediterranean countries: Lebanon, Egypt, Mauritania, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Occupied territories of Palestine, Algeria, Jordan, Syria and Syrians in diaspora.
To implement their ideas, Med Dialogue’s Fellows, taking action for the Mediterranean for 30 days in June 2020, were to: 1- engage with their community 2- partner with and empower other CSOs 3- advocate for their causes on the national or cross-border level (i.e. to seek and influence public and governmental support). A number of CSOs have brilliantly succeeded in their efforts by being inclusive in their initiatives such as Egypt’s “Better on a Bike” campaign which targeted young women through teaching how to ride a bike and advocate for the environmental and health benefits of biking, Lebanon’s LCESD (Lebanese Committee for the Environment and Sustainable Development) work with local authorities in their awareness-raising campaign about pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and Gaza’s “The Sea is Ours” campaign.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19r12v_oXkA&feature=youtu.be
Better by Bike
Eco Child
Like the Eco-Child, an environmental education programme organised by three young leaders in Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania, or the actions with Syrian refugees in Turkey and Jordan , environmental activism can prove that crises, especially around the Mediterranean, can be solved only by overcoming geographical and political borders.
“Our regional programme focuses on bringing together young CSO leaders from the Maghreb and Mashreq regions who act as catalysts for change in their communities and can address common policy-areas challenges faced by their countries, in this case addressing environmental issues. During the Bootcamp, Med Dialogue Fellows share their experiences in civil society activism and their skills in advocacy, and have their regional cooperation improved, thus enabling them to reach out to key policy- makers on the local, national or regional levels”, said Kristina Prunerova, Task Manager for Culture and Civil Society, DG NEAR B2.
SHARE
PRINT
