(MENAFN- PRLog) New York, NY - - Four high school students from Global Kids will travel to Katowice, Poland to participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) from December 4th through December 12th. The summit will be held at the International Congress Center in Katowice where world leaders of approximately 192 countries will be present to ensure implementation of the Paris Agreement. Global Kids is an accepted exhibitor at COP24, in collaboration with the non-governmental organization Peace Boat.
The youth from John Adams High School (QNS); William Bryant Cullen High School (QNS); High School for Medical Professionals (BK); and The Beacon School (MN) are all participants in Global Kids' Human Rights Activist Project (HRAP), a program that integrates youth voices into the public policy decision making process. Since 2010, youth in Global Kids have been actively involved on climate justice issues and have participated in Rio+20, COP21 in Paris, and COP22 in Morocco, as well as the People's Climate March in Washington, DC last year. They successfully led a campaign to pass a resolution in the New York City Council to mandate climate education in New York City public schools, and a Global Kids alum, Victoria Barrett, is one of the 21 youth plaintiffs in the constitutional climate lawsuit against the US government supported by Our Children's Trust.
"I am deeply honored to be chosen to represent Global Kids and young people at COP24 in Katowice, Poland," stated Josiah Dunn, a Global Kids Leader from John Adams High School. As a child, I never expected myself to go to the other side of America, much less across the Atlantic to express ideas with the world leaders and inform many other individuals about climate change from a GK youth leader perspective. I hope that I will be able to learn how the political system works when it is concerned with a global issue as well as learn about the new technologies that people are developing to combat climate change."
During their 9-day stay in Poland, Global Kids youth will be attending various COP24 workshops and exhibitions in collaboration with Peace Boat where they showcase to world leaders and participants their projects and why youth voices matter in efforts to address climate change. The group will also hold climate change workshops at two Polish high schools – IV Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. S. Maczka and Liceum High on December 7th and 10th respectively.
"Our youth understand the urgent need to hold world leaders as well as our own government accountable to protect their futures," said Evie Hantzopoulos, Executive Director of Global Kids. "Their voices and opinions are key to finding equitable and just solutions to address climate change."
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About Global Kids: Through its after school and in-school programming, Global Kids works to ensure that youth from underserved communities in NYC and DC have the knowledge, skills, experiences, and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and in the world.
www.globalkids.org . 137 East 25th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10010.
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