ACMI Youth Programme

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Africa contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions and yet suffers the inordinate effects of climate change. Up to 135 million Africans are projected to be internally displaced by 2050 due to climate impacts. Today, youth account for around 60% of the African population, and children, youth, and women are the disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.

To bring about significant changes in the lives of thousands of children and young people across Africa who may be increasingly affected by climate mobility, ACMI decided to start the ACMI Youth Programme. By strengthening the capacity of young people, amplifying their voices, and promoting a more inclusive approach to climate action, the ACMI Youth Programme can help advance the development agenda of the continent and provide for greater awareness of, and responses to, climate mobility.

To achieve these objectives, the ACMI Youth Programme will pursue the following activities during 2023:

Actively engage young persons in advancing ideas and initiatives that will improve local capacity for climate adaptation and to harness climate mobility. Envisioned is a youth-led lab for frontline community solutions that will provide seed funding opportunities to youth-led
climate initiatives. Financial support will be provided to youth-led initiatives that are focused on improving climate adaptation of frontline communities to the impacts of climate change or address the needs of young people on the move.

Climate literacy is an integral part of any meaningful climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. This is even more important in Africa, where climate literacy is relatively low and people are disproportionately affected by climate change. To this end, continuous climate education is important at every level, both in the form of formal and informal education as well as awareness raising. The Youth Programme aims at improving peoples’ awareness, skills, and knowledge about climate change and climate mobility as well as practical ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change on their daily lives.

Climate policies are significant to driving effective climate actions. For young persons, advocating for the right policies is a major step towards addressing climate mobility in Africa. A proof of concept was the development and launch of the “African Youth Declaration on Climate Mobility” last year - putting forward a set of policy demands for both the international community and national governments. To this end, policy advocacy will continue to be at the centre of the programme’s engagements in 2023.