Young group members have made waste bins from bamboo and placed them around the camp. Photo Credit: UNHCR/Kamrul Hasan. Video: UNHCR

EnvironmentSociety Bangladesh9. December 2022

Young Refugees Educate Their Families to Fight Climate Change

Young Rohingya refugees living in Kutupalong, the largest and most densely populated settlement located in Bangladesh, are being trained on environmental issues, empowering them to make a difference by finding solutions and applying them.

“Some people don’t want to listen to us, but I truly believe that, gradually, their viewpoint will change,” says Samia, 14, member of one of the five youth groups who received a training. “At the end of the day, I feel good thinking that I raised awareness in my community.”

In Kutupalong, close to a million people live on just 17 square kilometers, destroying forests to make way for shelters and farmland, and killing wild animals. Trained by the UN Refugee Agency, and its partner organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, young refugees learned about the links between deforestation and the climate crisis, and how they impact their daily lives. Since acquiring problem-solving and leadership skills are part of the training, they were encouraged to find solutions to environmental issues affecting their part of the camp. For instance, Samia decided to educate her family, neighbors, and friends by holding awareness-raising sessions about the importance of protecting wildlife and forests. Equipped with a sense of purpose, refugee volunteers are taking part in an ecosystem-restoration project by planting thousands of trees, shrubs, and grasses and recovering waterways.

Source:
The UN Refugee Agency

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