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Climate Change & Energy
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June 23, 2019

May 24th school strike in Uganda

Rebecca Herbert
George Scott
Editor- environmental activist
Ugandan kids are another part of what is happening worldwide as an epidemic movement.
May 24th school strike in Uganda

Uganda is a country with a lot of activists trying to change climate crisis. Here we have a short and summarized report prepared by our friend, Nirere Sadrach: 
On May 24th in a rainy morning we first went to the Parliament of Uganda and presented the Uganda Students and Youth's Demand paper. It was received by the Speaker Rt.Hon Rebecca Kadaga on behalf of the government and together we discussed more about Uganda's commitments towards Climate Action and also she shared with us the government's climate action plans. 

I told the speaker that Uganda's that urgent action is required because as a country we are already mapped prone to dangers of a breaking down climate and reminded her that Uganda ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement so there has to be already action and solutions to achieving its goals. We have already experienced droughts, floods and landslides crippling productivity of the eastern region and killing many people. Today rising global temperatures are not good for an agricultural economy like ours because coffee the major export cash crop will not thrive in such conditions. Many street children will float in Kampala and other urban centers and together in future we shall inherit a broken economy and a life so hard to live. All this I explained in detail to the speaker of parliament as she listened.  

You can find more details about our engagement with at the parliament here, 
www.parliament.go.ug 

We are now yet to present the demands to Parliamentary committee on Natural Resources.
 

May 24th school strike in Uganda

After the parliament in the afternoon from 12:00am we set off to join other people/strikers at Muyenga and we started our climate strike that had a common voice "Declare Climate Emergency Now" and other demands written in art on placards. The strike gathered participation over 60 students from primary, high schools and I mobilized a team of youth from my university (Kampala International University) too. 

What I do;
A part from coordinating climate strikes, I speak to others about the Fridays For Future movement's youth space to participate in Climate Action, how they can join us and the relevance of Climate Strikes in amplifying youth voices.
I am a green campaigner at Green Climate Campaign Africa, I plant trees as I visit schools and universities to share with them the KEEP MAMA AFRICA GREEN message. I have founded a digital platform www.climatewatchseries.blogspot.com to create more awareness on climate change, and also use social media platforms. 
 

Climate Strike Goals   

  • We are working towards growing a bigger climate striker force that can turn into a big voice, the movement is therefore modeled to youth and young people space for participation as well as join the Fridays For Future network.    
  • To have government recognize Uganda Students and Youth's Climate Demands. 
  • We want to empower and educate communities about human induced climate change and also turn our activities into solution that can empower, transform people and societies to sustainable.
  • As we grow in numbers we shall continue to advance our voices towards demanding urgent Climate Action, we want to show an example to others like Greta Thunberg did, that a bright green future lies in the hands of young people and the actions they take from now. 
  • It is our goal to rally other youth in the whole country to strike for climate, we want a national student’s climate strike. Also other African countries must emulate the climate strikes as a non-violent way to demand for climate action.  

Thank you very much.

NIRERE SADRACH - Uganda

schoolstrike schoolstrike4climate climate-action Uganda
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