Initiatives

CVF Youth Fellowship

04 Nov

Overview

Member countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) are extremely vulnerable to climate change, despite their minimal contribution to its causes and limited capability to respond to its impacts. To address this imbalance, one of the proposed strategies is the enhancement of climate change capacities among youth activists. Consequently, the CVF has initiated a Youth Fellowship program, selecting 12 participants aged 18 to 25 from its member countries.

As part of the CVF’s broader mission to encourage ambitious climate action and secure international support for nations threatened by climate change, this program aims to empower the fellows and establish a youth presence within the Forum. This youth constituency will amplify the voices of young individuals most susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Participants will be better equipped to raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities facing climate-vulnerable countries, as well as advocate for their priorities in international climate change negotiations and beyond.

Key Activities

The youth fellows will experience real-life climate change negotiations through sponsored participation in key international climate change conferences. In preparation for these events, they will take part in training sessions conducted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The CVF will offer a platform for publishing the youth fellows’ research related to climate change (accessible here). All activities will be promoted on the Forum’s social media, and the youth fellows will also be actively engaged in the different CVF campaigns. Additionally, the participants will be invited to attend the CVF’s main meetings and to participate in any other activities organised by the Forum. Finally, the fellowship provides an opportunity to join a South-South community focusing on climate change, facilitating the sharing and exchange of experiences and knowledge. 

YOUTH FELLOWS 2022-2023

Mr. Almustafa Mohamed Hussein Abbas

Mr. Almustafa Mohamed Hussein Abbas is a recent graduate from Alneelian University. He started his volunteer work fighting climate change in an afforestation initiative. In 2021, he joined Mutasim Nimir Centre for Environmental Culture. He was also part of the organising team for the Environmental Citizenship Award 2021. Mr. Abbas is the UN Youth Delegate of Sudan and is also a Representative of the Sudanese Youth as a Civil Society Delegate. He is an active member of YOUNGO and of the Finance and Markets Working Group. Currently, he is the country contact point for Youth17 COY17.

Almustafa M. H. Abbas

Ms. Aslhy Daniela Torres Ureña

Ms. Aslhy Daniela Torres Ureña is an environmental engineer from the Technological Institute of Costa Rica. She is a young activist from the Youth and Climate Change Network of Costa Rica. She is responsible for projects that focus on the capacity-building of community climate science, with adolescents from climate vulnerable areas, including coastal and border populations. She has worked at the German Cooperation Agency in Costa Rica, focusing on climate ambition and mitigation projects. Her areas of interest are loss and damage, climate justice, mitigation and adaptation.

Aslhy Daniela Torres Ureña

Ms. Barbra Kangwana

Ms. Barbra Kangwana is an environmental and climate activist from Kenya. She is a community trainer and climate educator at Planet One. She strives to increase youth representation in the climate space and to empower the youth to find opportunities and be more adaptable in the climate crisis. She has been actively involved in environmental conservation, climate justice and fossil-free campaigns, advocating for better policies and sustainable practices. Barbra is also the Founder of LastShade, a youth-led initiative which focuses on creating awareness on environmental conservation and climate change, as well as increasing resilience in the local communities through behaviour modification.

Barbra Kangwana

Ms. Emelyne Janviere Uwimana

Ms. Emelyne Janviere Uwimana, from Rwanda, is an Executive Assistant at Young Volunteers for the Environment. Ms. Uwimana holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Chemistry (Hons), University of Rwanda. Her main focus at present is working in the area of climate change adaptation and loss & damage. In her current role she is working on environmental education, teaching children about environmental protection and conservation, and about the role of youth in tackling climate change. She is also contributing to raising awareness on climate change to communities. Her purpose is to leave the world a better place than she found it.

Emelyne Janviere Uwimana

Mr. Humphrey Willie Mrema

Mr. Humphrey Willie Mrema is the Chairman of the Youth Survival Organisation (YSO) and the Youth4Climate Tanzanian Delegate. He leads the Youth Survival Organisation and has worked with other NGOs in Tanzania and abroad including Dar es Salaam Global Shapers Community, Peace First, Women in Management Africa, International Christian Youthworks, Singida Innovations for Social Impact (SISI), and the UN Climate Change Conference of Youth (COY16) under the Global Affairs Unit (GAU). Mr Mrema possesses a diverse skillset, which includes IT experience (MS Office, GIS and CAD), event management, writing skills, public speaking skills, leadership skills and digital marketing skills.

Humphrey Willie Mrema

Mr. Imran Hossain

Mr. Imran Hossain is a young climate activist from Bangladesh’s coastal area of Noakhali. When he was 8 years old, his family was devastated by the Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila, which killed his father and around 339 people in Bangladesh and India, as well as displacing over 1 million people. Since then, he has been engaged with youth-led climate networks. He is a master facilitator at YouthNet for Climate Justice, and an active campaigner with Fridays for Future Bangladesh, which mobilised the youth, the media, and the government, and ultimately led to a parliamentary motion, titled “Planetary Emergency”.

Imran Hossain

Ms. Isabel Nana Yaa Andam

Ms. Isabel Nana Yaa Andam is a research intern working with the Climate Change and Ozone Department of Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency. In order to build her capacity, she earned a certificate in sustainable development – “Goals at the University of Copenhagen”, through Coursera. Furthermore, she recently joined the working team of the Youth in Natural Resources and Environmental Governance (Youth-NREG). As an active member of this platform, she is contributing to raising awareness, sharing knowledge and building capacity and skills of the Youth in Climate Change and Environmental Matters. Her mission is to empower the youth, teaching it to live sustainably.

Isabel Nana Yaa Andam

Ms. Jollia Peter

Ms. Jollia Peter attended the 3rd Youth Leadership Coalition – Combating Climate Change, as a high school student. She then took part in the Heirs to Our Oceans (H2OO) SEAL in Palau, and was selected to represent H2OO SEAL, attending the Our Ocean Youth Summit in Bali, Indonesia. In spring 2020, she pursued her A.A. Degree in Liberal Arts at the College of the Marshall Islands. While attending college, she interned at an NGO – the Jo-Jikum Youth Centre. She currently works at Jo-Jikum as PPAC Project Coordinator and is also a National Climate Youth Representative under the UNDP Deep Dive Project.

Jollia Peter

Mr. Jodahi Bezabih Petros

Mr. Jodahi Bezabih Petros has been part of the Environmental movement since his younger age. He has always been a charismatic and goal-oriented person, which made him stand out in most rooms. Finishing his bachelor’s as an Applied Biologist he explored the scientific view of the environmental crisis and then followed up with his master’s on Environment and Sustainable Development studies at Addis Ababa University. He has been a proud volunteer in various youth-led organizations such as Youth Negotiation on Climate Change Crisis, Rotaract Clubs and Global Shapers. With his personal initiative, he also became the founder and host of Joda’s E-nflunece digital show and now the Director for #Enfluencer as well, in addition to his start-up businesses called Farmboo Ethiopia and JAB Digitals.

Jodahi Bezabih Petros

Mr. Koto Daniel Dagnon

Mr. Koto Daniel Dagnon has been implementing concrete initiatives to ensure the well-being of his community for 3 years. In 2020, Mr. Dagnon was nominated as a Green Ambassador for Climate in Africa by Climate Change and Africa Opportunities (CCAO). In 2022, he was recognised by Earth.org, as one of the 10 inspiring young activists worldwide who are leading the way for climate action. Since November 2021, he coordinates an eco-justice programme called Green Amazones. At COP26, Mr. Koto had to participate in the negotiation sessions on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. He is currently a Junior Consultant in Water & Climate Change.

Koto Daniel Dagnon

Mr. Nyombi Morris

Mr. Nyombi Morris is a 24-year-old Ugandan climate activist, TED speaker, and 2022 Earth Champion Award Winner, Fridays for Future Uganda organiser, and CEO of Earth Volunteers, a non-profit organisation founded in 2020 to unite young people who are passionate about climate change, conservation, holding leaders accountable through strikes, and planting trees.

Nyombi Morris

Ms. Rubina Adhikari

“Ms. Rubina Adhikari is a 23-year-old environmentalist from Nepal. For two years, she was engaged in Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP as a thematic facilitator, where she was involved in UNEA 5.2 and Stockholm+50 processes. She is also a project Coordinator of Gross International Nature where she focuses on Climate Change Adaptation in the mountain region. She envisions becoming an environmental analysts and loves to work among grassroots communities. She is looking forward to the CVF journey and to seeing what it has to unfold. She is very much excited and dedicated to be a part of this fellowship.”

Rubina Adhikari

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