Nisengwe Regis is a 24 year old graduate of the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology. He studied Environmental Chemistry and graduated in 2011. He has been actively involved with the Rwanda Youth Alliance for Climate Action which:
- Explores adaptation and mitigation measures
- Involves youth in mitigation activities
- And advocates for climate change justice
This Alliance started on 24th September 2011 at a function organised at the Kimisagara Youth Centre around a theme entitled “Moving Planet – Moving beyond Fossil Fuels”. Youth were mobilised to do Umuganda (community service), and then there was a workshop with young people on looking beyond fossil fuels. There were more than 60 participants at this event.
The Alliance sent participants to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) youth conference on Climate Change in Lusaka, Zambia, to raise awareness on the Rwandan youth activities in addressing climate change impact. Youth also participated in the Caravan of Hope. 2 young people were sponsored by UN-Habitat to the event.
The Alliance holds public lectures in different academic institutions to raise awareness and recruit members. The One Stop Youth Centre has been crucial to the activities of the Alliance. The Alliance meets at the centre and requests for space as and when required. They are currently seeking space for an office at the centre, to enable them establish a working base. The centre has enabled them to organise their outreach activities and also helped to access key government officials and institutions.
The Kigali +20 youth meeting, in preparation for the Rwanda response to the Rio +20 process was held at the Kamisagara One Stop Youth Centre. The centre management helped to ensure that the Rwanda Management Authority (REMA) participated at the event. 35 young people of whom 10 were girls discussed the concepts of a green economy, green business and the role of the National Youth Council therein. The discussions were aimed at enabling youth internalize the concept of a green economy by facilitating thinking on the individual’s role in the green economy. The meeting came up with the “Kigali Youth Declaration” as a message to the Rio+20 processes. President Kagame heard of this effort and asked for the declaration as a contribution to the Government’s position in Rio.
There is a code of conduct and rules for youth coming to the centre however the youth do not feel constrained by the rules. Drugs are not allowed and there are some age restrictions to certain activities. The centre has helped to build responsibility. There is positive engagement and social responsibility among all people coming to the centre. People are engaged in a variety of activities which in itself is empowering and contributes to individual development.
Regis is from Kimisagara, and learnt ICT at the centre when it was a WAF centre. He comments that in the past the centre did not have much organization; activities were erratic. Nowadays there is a structure around the way that services are provided and accessed and this makes it easy to engage. The number of girls at the centre has increased since it changed to a One Stop centre. This is because the options available have also increased. Girls like aerobics and other such activities. Previously there was a cultural barrier that stopped girls from participating in public sporting activities. This however is no longer the case and people are becoming more open minded about it. So if the girls chose to form a football team and it is not a cause for much concern.
REACA is the leading youth network in Rwanda. They are working towards engaging and involving as many young people as possible in issues around climate change (advocacy, mitigation, adaptation). They also get involved in changing the local government in Rwanda for better environmental management. |
