GENERATION HOPE SOUNDS A #RedAlertOnClimate

The Youth Campaigners Programme visits The Shriram Millennium School, Noida
-Sumiti Goel, Young Campaigner

“We are afraid that our voices will go unnoticed, but if we speak together consistently they will have to hear us!”
said one of the students of Shriram Millennium School, when asked about youth’s role in steering change.

Youth today are driven by optimism and belief in change, discontented to wait on the sidelines and rather eager to set the course of the ecosystem’s evolution.

Bal Raksha Bharat launched the Young Campaigners programme to motivate and empower young people to become agents of change. The programme seeks to raise awareness about pertinent issues particularly climate change and encourage volunteering among youth. One of the key elements of the initiative is to build capacities of the young people to empower and inspire them to take collective action.

Generation Hope, Bal Raksha Bharat’s global campaign for and with children, has been pushing for immediate action on climate change and injustice. We believe that the world is at a fork in the road, and it’s time we followed the lead of our children and youth to fix the damage.

On 12 May’22, the Young Campaigners Programme brought Generation Hope to The Shriram Millennium School, Noida.
The session was led by by Bal Raksha Bharat, India and Hari Koshish, an initiative by Naman Sonpar, one of the Young Campaigners with Bal Raksha Bharat dedicated to a more prosperous, environmentally friendly, and secure future.
The aim of the session was the guage the understanding of children on climate change and to raise awareness about the role of youth in environmental conservation. The session was attended by 150 9th grade students of the school.

The workshop had several engagement activities to enable children to think about their responsibilities in combatting climate change and to make conscious everyday choices. MASH Project Foundation, a leading youth- led organisation spoke to the children about ‘carbon footprint’ through an activity where students were made to calculate their carbon footprint based on their everyday habits. The children were both surprised and intrigued by the results of this activity.

The session ended with collective storytelling, in which students had to weave together a tale. Beginning with “Once upon a time” and finishing with “and that’s how young people built the world of their dreams.” The story weaved by the children of the school highlighted how young people no longer want to be bystanders. They want a seat on the table to discuss, articulate and debate the decisions that would affect their futures.

The Young Campaigners Programme, not only creates awareness amongst the youth about important issues, but also accredit and acknowledge the efforts that the young people are putting in to steer behavioural change and shift narratives to create shared prosperity in the world.
If you are inspired to lead the change, sign up to become a young campaigner and become a part of the change!
https://balrakshabharat.org/youngcampaigners/