Children reimagine a better tomorrow

Every year on 20 November, the international community celebrates World Children's Day to commemorate the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. During the weeks that precede World Children's Day, UNICEF pays homage to children who claim their rights and call for the adults of the whole world to listen to their voice and to mobilise.

Ketsia, a Child Reporter trained by UNICEF, set off to meet children, women and men who mobilise daily for the climate cause in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“I recycle cardboard boxes and make them into robots,” explains Peggy, a young artist of 16 years of age. By transforming these boxes found in the streets, Peggy wants to bring the public’s attention to the bad health of the environment. “Our country must move forward because we say that sorcerers go where it is dirty,” concludes Peggy, who is mobilised more than ever in favour of an environment where children can grow in good health.

These young girls get together every Saturday morning to clean their district in the city of Kinshasa. They are part of a group of young people who act in their community to make their environment healthier, and to raise the population’s awareness about waste management and about the pollution of the nearby river.

Angèle Bidubula, a principal of a clean school, is particularly active in favour of hygiene and sanitation practices. “Through children, we bring these practices into our families and our districts to improve the living conditions of each and every one of us,” explains Angèle, conscious that everything learnt at school gets transferred to the home.

The DRC is an exceptional haven for fauna and flora. The country has five sites on the World Heritage List of UNESCO, including Virunga National Park, which is situated in the North Kivu province. Kethia, 16 years old, visited the Senkwekwe Centre where ecoguards take daily care of gorillas who were orphaned because of poachers.

Kethia went to meet children, adolescents and women living in the Rutshuru territory to have an exchange on the themes of climate, the environment, and security. Populations in the east of the DRC continue to be subject to the devastating consequences of waves of violence that destabilise the region.

“Here in North Kivu, there is danger everywhere (…) but we always try to resist,” explains Aline, an ecoguard in Virunga National Park who is one of the few women in a largely male profession. “I encourage young girls to work and to protect our heritage,” Aline concludes, recalling the importance of the implication of women in the protection of the environment.

Not far from the park, the young Prisca remarked that many children in her community cut down trees in the forest in order to make coal. “If there are no trees (…), how are we going to live?” Prisca asks herself. On top of being directly linked with the quality of the air that Prisca breathes, deforestation is linked to the descholarisation of some of her friends.

André has been an ecoguard for 22 years. He insists on the importance of raising awareness and of involving children in the protection of nature. “We must develop a love for nature in their minds,” says the ecoguard, specifying that education has a key role to play. “When we love something, we know how to protect it,” concludes André.

Climate change directly threatens the capacity of children to survive, to grow, and to flourish. Sitting on a stack of wood, a student looks at a school courtyard filled with mud after heavy rains flooded the nearby river.

As an entire generation grows up in a world threatened by climate change and environmental degradation, it is imperative to reimagine the world of tomorrow for a future that is more egalitarian, just and sustainable.