The joint Swedish Environmental Protection Agency – UNDP Environmental Governance Programme (EGP) calls for 50 young volunteers to join the online campaign for ‘Young Environmental Journalists’.

Online volunteers will help the EGP produce inspiring stories of change related to environmental and human rights protection in the mining sector in Colombia, Kenya, Mozambique and Mongolia. For 8 weeks, the young volunteers will work in groups to submit a draft story every week for review. Selected stories will be featured on the World Bank/UNDP extractive industries platform, and the new EGP website and promoted on UNDP and Swedish social media. All work will be done online, and no traveling will be necessary from the volunteers.

Apply here.

More details on requirements; see individual ads.

To participate in the campaign, volunteers need to be enrolled in high school or college or be between 14 and 24 years of age and register with the UNV online volunteering platform. They will also need to be fluent in English and at least one of the local languages in the target countries. The process is open to all, regardless of citizenship but citizens and expatriates will be prioritized.

For Paul Mukutu, a young Kenyan environmental defender working with Power Shift – 350.org in Nairobi, the ‘power of the youth in the environmental movement is growing so much and so fast that all traditional powers, such as the State and the Companies, are now listening to us’. Paul has been participating in the EGP activities since early 2018. For him, this new campaign ‘can give young people voice and a global platform to learn, share and build powerful networks.’

All online volunteers will receive a UN certificate upon completion of the campaign and will also receive online training about environmental and human rights protection in the mining sector, as well as storytelling and citizen journalism through workshops and web-based courses on UNITAR.org

Contact:

Victor Ramos, International Unit, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency: victor.ramos@naturvardsverket.se

Francisco Filho, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP: Francisco.filho@undp.org