Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt: The United Nations Global Initiative in Egypt "Shabab Balad" is participating in the 27th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (Climate Summit) in Sharm El-Sheikh, represented by a number of the initiative's ambassadors to promote awareness of climate change issues among youth, and highlight the youth important role in fighting climate change, and highlight pioneering youth projects related to climate.

The Advisory Board of the initiative will hold its first meeting on Monday (November 7) on the sidelines of the conference, assuming its duties as the body responsible for the strategic decisions of Shabab Balad, which seeks to build the first partnership in Egypt between the Public sector, Private sector and the Youth (PPYP).

Shabab Balad ambassadors will attend the meeting and participate in various sessions and events during the conference, which is held from 6 to 18 November.

The "World Youth Forum" session during the conference deals with the role of Shabab Balad in promoting green jobs in Egypt, with the participation of a number of Shabab Balad ambassadors from the stars of art and sports. They are (in alphabetical order) Ahmed Dash, Amir Al-Masry, Habiba Marzouk and Nour El-Nabawy. The session will be attended by the CEO of the United Nations Global Initiative, Generation Unlimited, Dr. Kevin Frey, the Global Head of Programs Generation Unlimited, Urmila Sarkar and the Partnerships Generation Unlimited Lead at the UN, Dr. Ghada Makadi.

The Ambassador of Shabab Balad, Ahmed Dash, will moderate two sessions during the conference, one of which is on reframing children and youth as partners in combating climate change. During the session, Egypt's report to the United Nations on the Nationally Determined Contributions to combat the climate change will be reviewed. The second session reviews two reports, one of which is the first report on Egypt under the UNICEF’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) of climate risks to children, while the other report deals with the impact of heat waves on children from a global perspective.

For her part, Shabab Balad Ambassador Habiba Marzouk will moderate a joint session between UNICEF and the International Labor Organization on the skills needed for green jobs and Egyptian initiatives in this field, in addition to reviewing global experiences.

The Ambassador of Shabab Balad Nour El-Nabawy will moderate a session reviewing innovative solutions to the risks of climate change, which was developed by a boot camp organized by the United Nations Development Program in Hurghada over a period of 6 weeks for youth from around Africa.

On the sidelines of their participation in the Climate Summit, the ambassadors of Shabab Balad will conduct field visits to pilot projects in the Sinai region related to climate and run by youth, with the aim of highlighting the opportunities available to entrepreneurs in this field.

"Young people are mandated with the issue of climate change as they are responsible for the future, and it is very important for them to participate in the climate conference as owners of a cause, and to have an active role and presence in the conference," the Partnerships Generation Unlimited Lead at the UN, Dr. Ghada Makadi, said.

"Participation in the Climate Summit is fully consistent with the vision of Shabab Balad to raise  awareness of different climate issues among youth, and to participate in developing future strategies to deal with climate change," she added.

Shabab Balad, launched last January during the World Youth Forum held in Sharm El-Sheikh under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, aspires to be the national sustainable platform for multilateral partners working together to ensure that all youth in Egypt aged 10-24 are either enrolled in education or skilled for employability, employed, have entrepreneurship opportunities, or positively engaged in the society by year 2030.

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