Peace Child International

presents

a young people’s assessment of progress on the implementation of

Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the other major UN summits in
the ten years between 1992-2002

sponsored by

The Government of The Government

the Netherlands UNICEF of Finland
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOR PEACE CHILD INTERNATIONAL

Project Manager Russell Parkinson
Project Director David Woollcombe
Project Consultant Rosey Simonds Peace Child International
Workbook Designer
Workbook Editor
Francisco Pereira
Aaron Hawkins & Tom Burke
presents
Design Team José Luis Bayer & Ivonne Lacombe
Jesús de Lasheras Andújar,

FOR INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GENEVA

Principal, La Chataigneraie Michel Chinal
Campus Coordinator, La Chataigneraie Ellie Alchin
Consultant, La Chataigneraie Richard Heery
Principal, La Grande Boissiére Anthony Gorton
Earth Focus Coordinator, La Grande Boissiére Hubert Schneebeli

FOR THE BELLERIVE FOUNDATION

Foundation Director Nazir Sunderji
Earth Focus Project Director Barry Gilbert-Miguet
Earth Focus Administrator Karen Pelosi
a young people’s assessment of progress on
the implementation of Agenda 21 and the
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent outcomes of the other major UN summits in
those of Peace Child International, the Bellerive Foundation or any of the sponsors or the ten years between 1992-2002
publishers.

EXPERT ADVISORY GROUP

Peace Child International would like to thank the following people who gave generously of EDITORS
their time to read through the first draft of this book and prepare an advisory note to the
editors of the Final Draft: 1st Draft Editors 2nd Draft Editors
Dr Noel Brown, Alex Marshall, Pragati Pascale, Bas de Auer, Pierre Quiblier,
Bonus Caesar (19) Tanzania Ahmed Abbas (13) Sudan
Jing Jing Qian
Cesar Carrascal Vizarreta (20) Peru Jaclyn Adelman (17) USA
The production of this book was made possible by grants from the Government of the Lile Jandreska (19) FYR Macedonia Katie Bora (11) Australia/Canada
Netherlands, the Government of Finland and UNICEF. Filip Kosik (15) Czech Republic Stephanie de Verteuil (17) UK/ Canada
Bushra Razack (15) South Africa Maya Dominice (17), Australia/Argentina
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational
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purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of
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the source is made. Peace Child International would appreciate receiving a copy of any
publication that uses this book as a source. No use of this book may be made for resale or for Sarah Hamid (17) Palestine/USA
any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior written permission from Peace Child Valerie Haseltine (17) France/UK
International. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior Peace Child Team Editors Anna Juchnowicz (18) Poland
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printer for any infringement of copyright arising from the contents of this book. Every effort
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has been made to ensure that all credits comply accurately with the information supplied.
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ISBN No. Published by Peace Child International, Carolina Rengifo Rios (26) Peru Katie Paroschy (15) Canada
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Beth Wilson (11) UK
 I n t ro d u c t i o n s 6

S E C T I O N I : S TAT E O F T H E W O R L D 8
W h a t d o e s S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t M e a n t o Yo u ? 10
I f t h e Wo r l d We re a V i l l a g e o f 1 0 0 P e o p l e . . . 12 5
Ta k e a C l o s e r L o o k . . . 14
The Summits 16
Millennium Summit 18

SECTION II: AGENDA 21 20

A t m o s p h e re : Ta k e a D e e p B re a t h 22
F o re s t s : R o o t s o f L i f e 24
O c e a n s : Wa v e s o f C h a n g e 26
Wa t e r : D r i n k f o r y o u r H e a l t h 28
M o u n t a i n s a re F o re v e r. . . ? 30
Deserts: Shifting Sands 31
B i o d i v e r s i t y : N a t u re ’s E x t e n d e d F a m i l y 32
L a n d : C u l t i v a t i n g o u r F u t u re 34
C i t y o f D re a m s 36
Expelling Poverty 38
Consumption: In One End... 40
. . . a n d O u t t h e O t h e r : Wa s t e 42
P o p u l a t i o n : G e t t i n g C ro w d e d 44
Population: The Numbers Game 46
H e a l t h : D o c t o r, W h e re ? 48
AIDS: No Longer the Silent Killer 50
SECTION III: MAJOR GROUPS 52
Wo m e n R o c k 54
Science: Virtual Advance 56
Getting Down to Business 58
Local Agenda 21: Sustainability Begins at Home 60
N G O s : N o n - G o v e r n m e n t a l O v e rd r i v e 61
F a r m e r s : E n d a n g e re d S p e c i e s ? 62
Indigenous Peoples: The Power of the Spirit 64
Yo u t h : P a r t i c i p a t e ! 66
Learning to Survive 67
Black Holes: Gaps in Agenda 21 68
Rights for All! 69
Wa r & P e a c e 70
Show me the Money 72
Ta k i n g C h a r g e : G o v e r n a n c e f o r S u s t a i n a b i l i t y 74

S E C T I O N I V: T H E R O A D A H E A D 76
J o h a n n e s b u r g Yo u t h M a n i f e s t o 78
Ta k i n g A c t i o n : T h e W i n d s o f C h a n g e 80
G o O n . . . W h a t ’s S t o p p i n g Yo u ? 82
In Our Opinion 84
The Road Ahead 86

S E C T I O N V: R E F E R E N C E S E C T I O N 88
F o r M o re I n f o r m a t i o n . . . 90
Contributors List 92
DARJA MALIGINA, 12, RUSSIA A f t e r w o rd 93
Glossary 94
Index 95
Peace Child & Be the Change! 96
 Introduction
Foreword

Y
M
by the Youth Editors

O
N
O
EC
by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, EN V IR O N M EN
T
United Nations S O C IE

AMY HOE, 25, USA

TY 7
6 1962: Silent Spring
1992: RIO DE JANEIRO
UN Conference on Environment
a book by & Development
Rachel Carson

1987: Our Common Future

The Brundtland Commission
1972:: STOCKHOLM
UN Conference on the
Ten years have passed since a business affects our planet. More environment on which all future Human Environment

group of young editors published
the original Rescue Mission: Planet
Earth -– a children’s version of
Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is the
blueprint for sustainable
development adopted at the
“Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro
in 1992. Rescue Mission was a
wake-up call to “stop senseless
wars” and “end the pollution of
our beautiful planet.” It was a call
for “politicians to make the
decisions they should have made
long, long ago.”
How far have we come in ten
years? Not nearly as far as we
would have hoped. Our planet’s
environment is still fragile; too
many people still live in poverty.
However, we have made some
progress. Governments have
begun to pay more attention to
the environment when making
decisions. Many large companies
have started to look at how their
and more citizens’ groups
throughout the world have taken
up the cause.
At the same time, new challenges
have emerged. Ten years go, the
ravages of HIV/AIDS had barely
made their imprint on some
countries; today, the virus has
spread to every corner of the earth.
The Internet barely existed; today,
we are faced with a digital divide
between those who have, and
those who lack, access to this
powerful tool for education and
development. Globalisation was
only beginning to reveal itself;
today, it is the hallmark of our age
— its benefits are far from equally
distributed, yet it has the potential
to improve the lives of millions.
Our quest remains the same: how
can we achieve economic progress
and end poverty, while still
preserving and healing the
life depends? One thing is certain:
we need to involve young people
— those under the age of 25 who
currently make up half the world’s
population. It is they, after all, who
will have to live
consequences of the decisions
taken at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development
Johannesburg. It is they who will
inherit a world which has – or has
not – made progress towards the
Millennium Development Goals
agreed by all the
Governments.
Rescue Mission 2002 reflects Peace
Child’s strong commitment to that
quest. I congratulate the young
people who took part in this work.
And I hope that 10 years from
now, we will be able to say that
we have come a very, very long
way in rescuing our planet.
Kofi A. Annan
1972: Limits to Growth
report
The Club of Rome
with the
In June 1992 the governments of the
World gathered in Rio de Janeiro for
in The Earth Summit. At last, the link
between the need to save the
environment and the equally great
need to eradicate poverty was
recognised. Governments commited to
address these needs and came up with
Agenda 21, which outlined the biggest
world’s
challenges to the World in the 21st
century, as well as some real solutions.
The first Peace Child book, Rescue
Mission : Planet Earth was based on
this and demonstrated the enthusiasm,
especially of young people, behind the
idea of sustainable development!
In spite of this initial enthusiasm, we
agree with Kofi Annan: not enough
has been done in the past decade. In
this book, prepared for the World
Summit for Sustainable Development
to take place in Johannesburg in
August 2002, we have sat down and
given star ratings on the key
1984: The World
Conservation Strategy
by UNEP, IUCN and WWF
THE ROAD TO JOHANNESBURG BY ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND
commitments in Agenda 21. We give
you our personal view on how far we
think we have come since Rio - 5 for a
long way, 0 for nowhere! This is not at
all scientific - we just want to provoke
you to think about each issue.
It is 10 years on from Rio and
Johannesburg is all about reviewing
our progress (or lack of as the case may
be!). Principle 21 of Agenda 21 states,
"The creativity, ideals and courage of
youth should be mobilised to forge a
global partnership in order to achieve
sustainable development and ensure a
better future for all". Now is time to
look around and ask what has been
the impact on your community and
your local environment?
Like Rescue Mission, this book is not
“another doom and gloom book about
eco-disasters with some kindly advice
at the end on how to sort your
garbage.” Instead, it seeks to celebrate
2002: JOHANNESBURG
World Summit for Sustainable
Development
the progress we have made and
identify those tasks that we must all
work upon together if humanity is to
enjoy another millennium of life upon
this beautiful planet.
As we prepared this book, the challenge
in our minds was sustainability. It is all
too easy to sit back and let others
worry about the state of the planet -
after all what can you do? Young
people are significant consumers. We
recognise that we are responsible
right now for establishing sustainable
lifestyles.
Ten years from now, our formal educa-
tion will be over. Some of us will have
children of our own - and we hope
that learning to live sustainably will be
more at the centre of their school
curriculum than it was in ours. And we
hope that this book will help!
The Editors
 9

Section 1

State of
The World

W H AT D O E S S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T

MEAN TO YOU? 10

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100

PEOPLE... 12

TA K E A C L O S E R L O O K . . . 14

THE SUMMITS 16

MILLENNIUM SUMMIT 18

LIANA LUCHNIKOVA, 12, RUSSIA

 What does Sustainable
10
Development Mean to YOU? We cannot achieve sustainable 11
development without stopping the
growth of big coporations. They just
To me sustainable allow the rich to get richer and the poor But who is going to pay
Stopping them is
Sustainable development development is about to get poorer. for all of this? It is more
not the answer. We
means cleaning up our atmosphere people. Everyone has the If we want sustainable developed countries
must learn to work
and stopping global warming! right to not live in poverty, development, I think we Sustainable development means caring that have caused most
with them.
to education and must conserve our land for for the environment AND for humans – environmental damage.
employment. agriculture to feed our making sure everyone has access to health Yet less developed
It means preserving our
growing population. care stopping the spread of AIDS. countries are those
oceans and freshwater and
most in need of
stopping the polar icecaps from
support.
melting!

Its not just

You’re all right! Sustainable development
for the experts!
means meeting the needs of today without
compromising the ability of future
SQUEEZING THE PLANET DRY BY ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND, generations to meet their needs!
ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA AND STEPHANIE WILKS, 23, USA
 If the World were a 15 villagers
live in the richer
areas of the village

12 Village of 100 People... 13

13
The world is huge: 6 billion people is hard to imagine, right? So to give you a
sense of the state of our world, we’ve scaled everything down to a village of 100
where you would know everyone and what their life is like.

78 villagers live in poverty

33 are Christians, 28 are

Muslims, 21 are from other religions
27 villagers do not have access to 6 have a computer and 3 have
and 28 have no religion
clean drinking water. One of the villagers is access to the internet. 50 of the villagers
The village covers 600 acres of have never made a phone call.
a doctor and one is infected with HIV.
land; 70 acres are used as cropland,
140 as pasture, and 190 as woodland. 17 villagers are without
adequate shelter. 78 villagers are literate,
22 are not, and only one has
The village has a yearly budget of
a college education.
$300,000. $18,000 is used for weapons and
warfare, $16,000 for education, and $13,000
Average income in the village is $6000 a year but
for healthcare.
over 50 villagers live on less than $730 ($2 a day).
39 villagers are under 20 years old.

39 villagers are of
In 1960, the richest 20 had 30 times more wealth Life expectancy for the richer
school age, but only 31 of
than the poorest 20; now they have 82 times more and villagers is 78 years, in the poorest
them actually attend school.
they generate 86% of the garbage! areas it is only 52 years.

7 villagers have a car.

The village has

quadrupled its carbon
emissions in the past 50 years.
Only half the children in
the village are immunised
against preventable diseases Two babies will be born this year and one person will die.

GAVIN HENCHOZ, 12, SWITZERLAND

 Take a Closer Look ... FAO estimates a global land loss of
productive land through erosion to be
5-7 million hectares per year.
Imagine you are standing on the moon looking back at our earth. From a distance Global wood consumption
14 the Earth looks perfect. However, if you hold up a magnifying glass or a very is projected to double over the 15
2 billion hectares of land (an area the size
powerful telescope, how does it really look? next 30 years.
of USA and Mexico) is classed as ‘degraded by
human activities.’ Global warming will
increase this area by 17%. Worldwide
desertification is making 12 million hectares
useless for agriculture every year.
World temperatures rose 0.6% during the
past 100 years. The trend is not continuous:
since 1976 the global average has risen three
times faster than the rest of the century.
80 countries where 40% of the
world’s population live are suffering
In the year 2000 27% of the world’s coral from serious water shortages.
reefs were classified as ‘severely damaged,’
whereas in 1992 the figure was 10%.

Global warming is predicted to increase

sea levels by 5-35 cm by the year 2050.

In the 1950s there were 20

large-scale natural disasters. In the 1970s Half the world’s
there were 47, and in the 1990s there rivers are polluted.
were 87 affecting 147 million people and
costing the planet over $100 billion. 2.4 acres of forest are cut down per second -
the equivalent of two US football fields. Only

ND
LA
one-fifth of the Earth’s original forests

PO
8,
remain pristine and undisturbed.

,1
ICZ
OW
N
CH
JU
NA
AN
&
At current rates of destruction, it is 30% of fish stocks are classified as

O
IC
EX
estimated that two thirds of the world’s plant over-exploited and 60% are classified as ‘in ,M
I,
12
R
and animal species will be extinct by 2100. need of urgent attention’. 15 of the world’s 17 SA
A
CE
OR
largest fisheries are over-fished or in trouble. M
LO
PAB
 Vienna,
Austria,
December
1997
Vienna,

The Summits
UN World Youth
Forum Austria, June Rome, Italy, November 1996
Youth met to discuss/ World Food Summit – Rome Plan called
1993 for sustainable progress to eliminate
endorse the World World Conference on Human
The Earth Summit is not the only major global summit.. Barbados, Programme of Action for Rights - the Vienna Plan of
hunger and malnutrition and ‘provide all
people, at all times, physical and economic
The UN held several important summits through the May 1994 Youth to 2000 and beyond. Action confirmed that the
access to sufficient safe and nutritious food.’
16 Small Island Developing protection of human rights is 17
1990s reviewing every aspect of the state of our world.
States Conference - the birthright of all human
Islands create network to beings. Created a High
Yo k o h a m a ,
preserve and repair their Commissioner for Human Japan, May 1994
fragile eco-systems, provide Rights. Copenhagen, International
New York, UN Headquarters, disaster relief and secure
Denmark, March 1995 Conference on Natural
September 1990 technical assistance for Disaster reduction -
World Summit for Social
World Summit for Children – to promote the sustainable development Cairo, the declaration called
Development – agreed to
wellbeing of children. Convention on the Rights of programs. for new International
Egypt, eradicate poverty, create full
the Child quickly becomes the most widely ratified UN document. employment, justice, tolerance, partnerships to enhance
September preparedness, coordinate
accelerated economic growth
New York, UN Headquarters, September 2000 1994 for Africa and ‘people centred relief efforts and help save
Millennium Summit - the most important summit. Biggest gathering International development for all’. Also the lives.
of Heads of State (149) and government ever. Met to discuss and act Conference on 20:20 compact - 20% of ODA to
on major challenges of the new millennium & to re-define UN’s Population and go to pressing social needs and
role. Agreed Millennium Development Goals. Development - 20 20% of National Budgets of
year plan of action LDCs go to them.
to empower and
educate women to
plan and space
Honolulu, births rather than
Hawaii, reach arbitrary Istanbul,
population targets. Beijing,
October 1999 D a k a r, Turkey, June 1996 China, July
Millennium Young People’s
Habitat II Conference on 1995
Senegal, Settlements – to provide adequate Fourth World
Congress - to establish youth priori- April 2000 shelter for all in sustainable human Conference on
ties for the new millennium 2nd World Conference settlements in an urbanising world. Women –
Education was the top priority. It also The Habitat Agenda offers a positive Sydney, Australia, Platform for
on Education for All –
set up the ‘Be The Change!’ youth repeated Jomtien goal vision of healthy, sustainable cities. October 2000 Action set a
of free, universal International Youth Parliament - timetable for
action programme.
200 delegates from 150 countries eliminating all
primary education for
gathered to catalyse increased forms of
all, now by 2015. Donor
youth participation in the UN and discrimination
governments promised
provide an alternative youth against women
the necessary finance to Durban, voice within the UN system. in work, in
make it happen. South Africa, July decision making,
2000 J o m t i e n , education,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 1992 health, and the
UN Conference on Environment and 14th AIDS conference – Thailand, March
law.
to ‘break the silence’ &
Development: The ‘Earth Summit’ Biggest of the UN 1990
summits and parent to Agenda 21, the Biodiversity, Climate banish the stigma and
‘Education for All’ conference – promised
Change and Desertification Conventions as well as the Rio discrimination surrounding
to provide free access to primary education
principles. Massive NGO involvement and media coverage. HIV/AIDS through
for all by the year 2000. UNESCO to
International action and
supervise the programme of action with
Brussels, Belgium, May 2001 co-operation.
the World Bank, UNDP, and UNICEF.
UNLDC III - to assess the results of the ‘90s Programme
of Action on sustainable development in the 47 least developed
countries (LDCs) and their progressive integration into the world Johannesburg, South Africa, August 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development – 10 year review of
economy. To reaffirm the Millennium Development Goal of halving
the Rio Earth Summit and Agenda 21 implementation. Focus on
the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.
STEPHANIE WILKS, 23, USA the difficult challenges involved with improving people’s lives
whilst preserving natural resources for future generations.
 Millennium Summit – September 2000
In September 2000 149 Heads of State and High Government officials from over 40 other countries
gathered together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the Millennium Summit - the
18
largest ever gathering of World Leaders. They came together for 3 days to discuss the role of the
United Nations and set the International Agenda for the 21st century.
THE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH - 149 HEADS OF STATE AT THE UN FOR THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT
Though not in any way designed to
replace the goals and targets
reached at the other summits, the
Millennium Summit of the United
Nations attempted to bring
together the most important goals
of the world community into a list
of absolute top priority goals to be
reached by 2015. Many of these
goals have been set before –
Education for All by the year 2000,
Health for All by 2000, halve
poverty during the decade of
poverty eradication… etc. This time
they say they mean it.
The UN is so determined that we
reach these goals, they have set up
a Millennium Development Goal
team headed by Mark Malloch
Brown, Administrator of the UN
Development Programme. They
have hired top Harvard Economist,
Jeffrey Sachs, to calculate the cost
of achieving these goals – basically a
management plan for how to get
there. Also, the UN has set out a
“Road Map” to show how we are
going to get there – there will be
annual reports showing progress on
key indicators of how we are doing
on each goal. In 2005 and 2010,
there will be comprehensive reports
to show where we are at.
It isn’t just about meetings and
reports though. The UN know the
old saying: ‘You don’t grow a pig
by weighing it ’ You have to feed it
“What is needed is
not more technical
or feasibility
studies. Rather,
states need to
demonstrate the
political will to
carry out
commitments
already given
and to implement
strategies
already worked
out.”
Kofi Annan, Secretary
General, United Nations
– and that costs money. But it’s
not just money that you need:
you need total commitment by
all sectors of society. All must
believe that these goals can be
met – and they will be met.
Young people will play an
important role in this. They must
take action. Interestingly, most
of the MDG’s are identical to the
priorities that were agreed at
the Millennium Young People’s
Congress. So we hope that every
concerned group of active young
people will get to work to see
what they can do to help the UN
and their government members
to keep these promises and
actually reach their goals for
once!!
THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPOMENT GOALS
- BY 2015 -
19
1. Eradicate extreme poverty:
• halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day
• halve the number who suffer from hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education for all
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
• ensure that equal enrolment of girls and boys enrol at all levels of
education - if possible by 2005.
4. By improving nutrition and primary health care, reduce by
two thirds the number of children who die before their fifth
birthday.
5. By improving pre-natal and primary health care, reduce by
three quarters the number of mothers who die in childbirth
6. Halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDs
• halt and reverse the number of cases of malaria and other major diseases
7. Integrate the principles of sustainability into all country
policies
• reverse the loss of environmental resources
• halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water
• achieve significant improvement in the lives of 100 million slum dwellers.
8. Develop a global partnership for development ie.
Make globalisation work to achieve sustainability and
the eradication of poverty
• Create a trading and financial system that is accountable,
predictable and fair
• Address the special needs of the least-developed countries
create tariff and quota-free access to markets, and increase official aid
• Address the special needs of Small Island Developing States
• Deal with the Debt – make debt sustainable in the long-term
• Develop decent and productive work for youth
• Provide access to affordable drugs in developing countries
9. Share technology
• bridge the digital divide and, in cooperation with big companies, make
sure that the benefits of new technologies are available in developing
countries
 21

Section 2

Agenda 21

ATMOSPHERE: TAKE A DEEP BREATH 22

FORESTS: ROOTS OF LIFE 24

OCEANS: WAVES OF CHANGE 26

WATER: DRINK FOR YOUR HEALTH 28

MOUNTAINS ARE FOREVER...? 30

DESERTS: SHIFTING SANDS 31

BIODIVERSITY: NATURE’S EXTENDED FAMILY 32

LAND: CULTIVATING OUR FUTURE 34

CITY OF DREAMS 36

EXPELLING POVERTY 38

CONSUMPTION: IN ONE END... 40

... AND OUT THE OTHER: WASTE 42

POPULATION: GETTING CROWDED 44

POPULATION: THE NUMBERS GAME 46

HEALTH: DOCTOR WHERE? 48

AIDS: NO LONGER THE SILENT KILLER 50

Star Rating

In this section of the book we have summarised in

boxes what Agenda 21 said and given star ratings on
the key commitments. It is not at all scientific. It is
based solely on our own personal views and
experience. 5 stars = Good job! No stars = could do
better! You may agree or disagree with us, but what
we wanted to do is provoke some thought about
progress on these issues.
 Atmosphere: Take a Deep Breath
At the Kyoto Summit of 1997 160 countries signed up to set targets for carbon emissions, but
22 23
only 54 countries have done so. We must support this process and get Kyoto ratified in order
to achieve lower carbon emissions through greater energy efficiency and use of renewables.

“The destruction of the TAKE A

AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Promote national energy efficiency
and emissions standards and
integrate energy, environment and
economic policies in a sustainable
manner.
• Develop efficient, cost-effective, less
polluting and safe rural and urban
mass transport systems.
• Put into force international
agreements calling for reductions in
the use of ozone-depleting sub-
stances. 
atmosphere is the main DEEP BREATH
problem of these past 50 Take a deep breath,
years. We can live 20 You can smell death.
Look around, GLOBAL WARMING WHAT YOU CAN DO
days without eating, 3 And all you see is barren ground.
days without drinking, but “Kilimanjaro is the highest • Walk, cycle or use public
The world was green,
mountain in Africa. My transport whenever it is
how long can we exist Now that is a dream.
It’s so covered in smog, grandmother told me that in safe for you to do so.
without fresh air? Are You can’t see a frog. the past the mountain was • Share car journeys with
there ways to reduce the This was our fault,
completely covered with ice. friends and neighbours.
And we’ll never again,
pollution of the atmosphere See the earth, that we have slain. Even when I was young, I • Ensure your car is
and to repair the errors For me, killed earth, remember seeing the white serviced regularly.
In our drive to make it our hearth.
of our past? The answer capped mountain. But now • Maintain the correct
Sebastian Ellis, 11, UK/ Colombia
is yes, so why don’t we the situation has changed tyre pressure to improve
due to the global warming. fuel efficiency and use
do it?”
I can say it is true the ice energy efficient fuels.
Lukasz Strzyzewski, really has started to melt.” • Do not buy products that

NIA
ZA
contain gases that are

AN
17, Poland

,T
17
A,
harmful to the environment.
A
AS
FadhlunMahmood, 18,Tanzania ES
ON
“In 1997, 160 countries EMANUEL
MO
S

agreed the Kyoto Protocol to Annual Global Average Temperatures during the last 150 years
T (°C) T(°F)
cut carbon emissions. The 16.0 60.8

largest CO2 producer, USA, 15.8 60.4

15.6 60.0
agreed to cut emissions to 15.4 59.7
7% below 1990 levels by 15.2 59.3
DARIO F. GAPUEN, 17, PHILIPPINES

15.0 59.0
2010. But experts believe by 14.8 58.6
then, they’ll be 34% above! 14.6 58.2

President Bush decided not to 14.4 57.9

14.2 57.5
ask Congress to ratify it” 14.0 57.2
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2000
David Pedrueza Diaz, 24, Spain.
 Forests: Roots of Life
Billions of trees have been planted since Rio, but still forests are being destroyed at ever faster
24
24
24 rates. We can re-plant them, but we cannot recreate the precious habitats they provide for
people, plants and animals.
We all know that forests are cut
down and used for firewood and
to build houses, but trees are also
used for things like medicine, food
oils, cosmetics, and
fibres.
These are all good reasons to cut
down trees, but think of all the
AGENDA 21
reasons to leave them standing! SAYS
Standing trees conserve soil and
filter water, they absorb carbon • We must plant new
dioxide that contributes to global forests!
warming, and they prevent • We need to research how trees
erosion! This is why can be better used for fruits, nuts,
reafforestation is so dyes, medicines, gums and other
important. products.
• Damaged woodlands must be
replanted.
• We must increase tree planting in
urban areas.
Earth's forest
The firs rustle in the breeze,
The brown of the autumn trees.
The red leaves shimmer in the heat,
The leaves are crunching at my feet.
The leaves are floating to the ground,
They fall; they fall, without a sound.
The birds sing a beautiful song,
To kill their homes is very wrong.
To you, what is your home worth?
IPPINES
It no longer looks like the Earth.
16, PHIL
Cathy Mayne12, Thailand/ UK,
DO,
Beth Wilson 11,UK
RAN
EL F
HAZ
CASE STUDY - FINLAND
We can be very proud of the
condition of forests in Finland.
Logging is strictly supervised and
there are many areas preserved by
nature conservation laws. Trash is
not thrown in forests so they are
still healthy, and large parts of
forests still remain untouched. Our
ancestors lived in the forests and
lived by hunting and fishing - and
that’s what every Finn wants to get
back to in the summer!
Elina Nikkanen, 9, Finland
CASE STUDY -
FUTURE FORESTS
Recognising that cutting carbon
emissions is not happening fast,
25
Future Forests has set up an
WHAT YOU
alternative: carbon offset. If you
CAN DO?
plant 11 trees, you offset the
• Always use both sides of
amount of carbon an average
paper.
household produces in a year.
• Use recycled paper and
Through this scheme Avis Car Hire
recycle it again when done.
has pledged to plant trees to
• Buy only timber and paper
offset the cars they rent and
products made from trees
Virgin Cars plant 20 trees for
raised in sustainable forests.
every car they sell.
• Learn how to grow trees.
• Use cloth grocery bags
instead of paper or plastic.
• Try not to buy products that
use excess paper or card-
board packaging.
• Over 50% of the Earth’s species live in
tropical forests.
• Close to 130 countries have developed
or updated their National Forest
Programmes over the past decade.
• It is projected that deforestation and
the burning of biomass will be
responsible for 15% of carbon
emissions between 1990 and 2025.
• Between 1980-1997 more efficient
paper production processes reduced
PRISCILLA BLAY, 14, GHANA
raw timber pulp consumption by
56%.
 Oceans: Waves of Change
Oceans and seas are under siege from humanity - increased shipping and tourism, deep-sea fishing
26 fleets, more pollution from sewage plants and agricultural fertilisers, dynamite fishing, the list is 27
endless. The Law of the Sea was one of the first attempts to regulate use of the planet’s resources,
AGENDA 21

D
SAYS

LAN
yet the sea is still under serious threat.

, PO
, 15
• Protect and check environmental

ICZ
OW
damage to coastal areas nationally

IM
and internationally. 

KL
IA
AN
ANDRAZ JEZ, 17, SLOVENIA

D
AN
• 37% of the world’s people live within 60km of a coast - more • Polluters should pay for the

K
RE
damage they cause. 

PE
than the 1950 global total - causing massive coastal pollution.

A
R
ND
• 2.5 million people catch hepatitis from eating contaminated SA

shell-fish; of those 25,000 die and another 25,000 suffer per- • Those using cleaner methods
manent disability. should be rewarded.
• Financial Losses from toxic algae blooms have tripled in the last
three decades - about $250 million in the 1990s. • Protect marine life by controlling
WHAT YOU CAN DO
• With coastal waters pollute and ocean fisheries over-fished, fish what materials may be removed
farm production grew ten times between 1972-1998. from ships at sea and by banning
• Accidental introduction of South American jellyfish into the Black Just a reminder! chemicals in designated removal of hazardous waste 
Sea caused fish catches to plummet from 250,000 to 30,000 tons, Whatever goes from your house containers, not down the drain.
at a cost of $300 million to local economies. or from the street into a sewer If your community does not • Nations should share new
ends up in a river... And all rivers have a programme for collect- technologies.
lead to the sea!!! ing hazardous waste, ask your
CONTAMINATION OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS local authority to establish one. • Set limits on how many fish may be
Contamination of aquatic contamination may extend to tourism. The experience of the last • Keep litter, and debris out of caught. 
eco-systems is the worst eco-systems on land. In all ten years has shown that it is much gutters. These outlets drain • Clean up spilled brake fluid,
consequence of a water circumstances, the negative better to invest money in immediate directly to streams, rivers, and oil, grease, and antifreeze. Do • Encourage fishing by skilled local
related accident. It is not consequences of environmental action, rather than wait until it has wetlands and the open sea. not hose them into the street people. 
only the water that is incidents in the sea often goes evolved into a full-scale disaster. where they will flow to rivers
contaminated. The aquatic hand in hand with similar negative Coasts are amongst the loveliest • if you must apply lawn and and, eventually, to the sea. • Stop fishing for species at risk until
ANON, GHANA plants, fishes and seabirds consequences to economic activities parts of our planet. We cannot allow garden chemicals, use sparingly they are back up to their normal
suffer too. Moreover, such such as fishing, recreation and them to become wastelands! and follow the directions • Control soil erosion on your numbers. 

carefully. property by planting flowers

and trees to stabilize • Ban and police destructive fishing
practices like dynamiting,
• Dispose of used oil, antifreeze, erosion-prone areas.
poisoning and others; develop new
paints, and other household practices to replace them. 

ANDRAZ JEZ, 17, SLOVENIA


Water: Drink for Your Health
Water is the essence of life yet we abuse it massively. Though there has been a 4% increase
28 in the number of people with access to safe water since Rio, half our rivers remain polluted
and we are sucking underground water reservoirs dry faster than nature can replenish them.
By 2032, more than half the population is likely to be living in ‘water-stressed’ conditions.
THE WATER CRISIS
Water has moved rapidly up the
international agenda in the years
since Rio. There have been several
high level water summits and a
number of significant reports
showing how desperate our
situation in relation to water is.
‘Dam ‘em up!’ some say. This
conserves water, generates
electricity and enables a controlled
flow into irrigation systems. BUT it
CASE STUDY
THE GREAT LAKES
The Great Lakes of North
America contain nearly one
fifth of the world’s fresh water
and supply drinking water for
21 million people. However,
the lakes are severely polluted.
70% of the fish should not be
eaten because they are dis-
eased. In 1999, 370 beaches
were closed or issued a
contamination advisory.
Reasons for closure include
dsewage pollution and
increased bacterial levels due
to farm run-off carrying
fertiliser residues, industrial
effluent and sewer overflows.
also wrecks habitats, moves
people from their homes, and
causes the kind of miscalculations
that lead to the drying up the Aral
Sea in Central Asia. People are
more cautious now: plans to
reverse the flow of north-flowing
rivers south into Central Asia, or
create a lake in Australia’s great
central basin, have been put on
hold.
The basic problem is distribution,
in some places there is too little
water, in others there is too much.
Short of building huge pipelines
around the World. solutions seem
thin on the ground.
WATER IS LIFE! -
WATER IS DEATH!
The drop glistens on my finger
I long to taste it - to ease the
fire on my cracked lips.
Water is life -
Without it, I should die
Yet water is also death.
This drop is full of bacteria -
Trachoma, bilharzia - names that
strike terror in my young heart.
Safe water is free in some places
Here - it costs more than milk,
more than Coca-cola!
Is that fair? Is that wise?
Is that sustainable?
Anon, Mozambique
SHEKU SYL KAMARA, 21, SIERRA LEONE
AGENDA 21
SAYS
• 40 litres of safe drinking water to all
city-dwellers. 
• Provide 75% of city-dwellers with
safe sanitation. 
• Ensure all rural people have access
to safe water and sanitation.
• By 2025, have universal water
supplies for all human needs.
• All commercial water users must pay
the full cost of supply. 
• Water management must involve
full local participation. 
containers to carry home using the time-
CASE STUDY
At ten, James knows that they need to
clean up the place where he, his brothers
honoured technique of balancing large
buckets on your head. One day, there
might be a pipe leading to every house in
and his sisters collect water for their family the neighbourhood - but that is a long way
every day. The clean, fresh spring water that away.
29
bubbles up from the ground in abundance The immediate need is for the pump so that
all the germs from people’s feet are not
is polluted even before he can get it into his
bucket. The trouble is that, without a pump, mixed into the drinking water. With that,
you have to climb down into the pit to fewer babies would get sick and die; fewer
scoop out the water. The answer is obvious: adults would have health problems, and
concrete over the spring to secure it, place a more work would get done.
strong pump in the centre and pump up Esther Kamara, 21, Sierra Leone
the water directly from the spring into the
WHAT YOU CAN DO
• Respect water! Don’t throw anything in a river or pond. Think if you
would like to swim in it or drink it after!
• Conserve water: there are many ways you can conserve water in
your own home repair those leaky taps, don’t spend so much time
in the shower, recycle water in the garden
• Check local rivers and ensure industries are not polluting them.
• The number of people served with safe water supplies has increased from
4 billion (1990) to 4.9 billion (2000).
• 80 countries (40% of the world’s population) were suffering serious water
shortages in 1995. By 2032, it will be 50 - 90% in the West Asia region.
• Water-related diseases cause 4.2 million deaths a year - the equivalent of 40
jumbo jets crashing every day.
• Around 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water. 2 billion
lack access to proper sanitation.
• Only 2.5% of the water on earth is freshwater of which less than 1% is
available for human use. (The rest is locked up in ice caps and glaciers.)
• 70% of water is used for agriculture, 20% for industry and only 10% for
domestic use.
• 20% of irrigated land is unusable because of salinisation.
• 2 billion people live on water pumped from underground reservoirs. In
many regions, these are drying up as people draw more from them than CLAUDE DIDACE, 21, BENIN
nature refills. Near coasts, sea water intrudes making the water saline and
undrinkable.
 Mountains are for Ever...? Deserts: Shifting Sands
Most of us don’t give much thought to mountains. Yet 1 in 10 people call The dominant feature of deserts, magnificent though they look, is that not much can
30 these delicate eco-systems home and rely on them for their livelihood. survive in them. If we are to provide sustainable livelihoods for our expanding global 31
Mountains also provide water for more than half the world’s poplulation. they population, we have to fight the expansion of deserts which today threatens 250 million
deserve our respect, but are put under constant threat by our actions. people across the planet.

Mountains collect and store fresh CASE STUDY AGENDA 21

water. Deforestation on moun- ALP ACTION SAYS
tainsides means that water runs The Alps are known as the ‘playground of Europe’ - but all that fun has made them
straight off and washes away the one of the most threatened mountain systems in the world. Peppered with ski resorts, When I read the original
fertile soils, causing landslides and punctured with tunnels and cluttered with dams, they suffer from deforestation, ‘Rescue Mission’ book, I felt • Accelerate planting
flooding. Rare animal and plant erosion, air and water pollution, and much more. programmes using fast
immediately responsible for
life is also washed away. This leads With the help of the Bellerive Foundation, Alp Action has enabled local people to
my surrounding environment. growing, drought resistant,

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

to increased poverty and hunger work on 140 projects in 7 countries to preserve the Alps’ natural and cultural diversity. indigenous trees and
Walking around I noticed the
for local people.
permanent damage that was plants.
Hands up if you knew that 2002
was designated ‘The International being done in my local
Year of Mountains’? Probably not AGENDA 21 community. I was particularly • Reduce demand for fuel wood
many of you. The aim is for this SAYS concerned about the giant & promote alternative
year to be an opportunity to learn sand dunes that threaten my sustainable fuel sources.
• Erosion control measures should be
about mountain eco-systems and
promoted.  town, Keita. So I decided to 
promote conservation programmes The image of sand dunes rolling
produce as many plants as
in the many high risk areas. across farms and villages is only
possible in order to plant • Adopt sustainable manage-
• Local mountain communities should
one aspect of desertification. ment of water resources. 
be educated in how to develop their them in the dunes and stop
The real problem is how poor
resources sustainably.  the erosion phenomenon. It
farming techniques, drought,
and deforestation turn fertile made a big difference - and
• Areas threatened by air pollution, our group continues. We feel
farmland into useless wasteland.
erosion and landslides should be that, if nothing is done now to
The Convention to Combat
identified. 
Desertification has been signed stop desertification, the
by 179 countries. It promotes Sahara will pass right
local action projects and on through Keita to
research but funding has been engulf neighbouring
an obstacle. Countries that
EDWARD GEORGE, 20, TANZANIA

towns. Our group,

suffer most cannot afford the Green Keita, now has
US$10-$22 billion cost. 40 times 160 young people
that is spent on the military:
working on planting
surely combating the very real
and reafforestation
threat of desertification is
projects.
worth it?
AHMED ABDOULAYE, 21, NIGER

Nature’s Extended Family
32
• Develop national strategies to
conserve and sustainably use
biological diversity.
• Promote the rehabilitation of
damaged ecosystems, and the
recovery of threatened and
endangered species.
PETRA SNIRCHOVA, 13, CZECH REPUBLIC
THE FUTURE OF POLAR BEARS
Do you think polar bear skins look better
hanging on the wall, in front of the fireplace
in Norway and Russia.
On the other hand, environmental threats like
Rio gave us the Convention on Biodiversity which attempts to conserve plants and animals or on the polar bear? I think polar bear skins oil spills destroy polar bear habitats and if oil
both in the wild and in nature parks and seed-banks. But the speed of species loss is look best on the bears. gets into the polar bears’ fur the insulation 33
Every year over 625 polar bears are killed by gets ruined and the bear will freeze to death.
increasing - nature no longer has the time or the range of places for evolution to repair what
hunters or by pollution. Did you know that Nowadays the polar bear population is under
we have destroyed. Johannesburg has made preserving biodiversity one of its top five priori- American sport hunters will pay over ten threat and it could take a century for it to fully
ties - and we must all take responsibility for taking action to achieve it. thousand dollars for the chance to kill a polar recover.
bear? Now, hunting has become regulated in
Biodiversity means ‘variety of life “Hundreds of years ago, Katie Bora , 11, Australia/ Canada
Greenland, Canada and USA and it is banned
forms.’ Some areas have greater
AGENDA 21 biodiversity than others: Costa Rica indigenous people and
SAYS
ANNA JUCHNOWICZ,18,POLAND
has 830 species of birds - more nature were equal. The
than Canada and the mainland
United States combined. No one mutual respect between
knows how many species there are nature and native communities
on Earth, but we do know that all
ensured environmental
depend on complex food chains.
No animal can survive on its own. equilibrium.”
This is why preserving animals and
their environments is so important.
Dario Lopez, 21, Paraguay
The number of protected areas has
grown. There are now 12 million
hectares of earth where no logger WHAT YOU CAN DO
can intrude, no farmer can cultivate
and fertilise, no hunter can kill.
There needs to be more. • Don’t buy clothing,
WHY I CARE
“Never before has life jewellery or ornaments
made from endangered
on earth depended so animals.
In my opinion, nature would be
just fine if human beings disap- much on human beings’ • If a species in your area is
peared from the earth. For me, endangered, join or start a
plants and animals, forests, lakes
behaviour and their
campaign to save them.
and mountains, rivers, beaches, relationship with • Do not buy exotic pets.
and the under-water world of
coral reefs and rocky coves are nature”
the real wonders of our world.
Any one of them is more Lesly Grandin, 21, Cuba
magnificent than anything
that humans can build.
Plants and animals are living
beings that should live in
their own natural environment. I
don’t like snakes and spiders
“There are strong practical reasons for saving much but I could not bring
myself to kill one.
wildlife. We depend on them for fuel, food,
medicines, clothing and industrial goods.” Maia Kalister, 16,
Ryan Kerpelman, 11, Switzerland Slovenia KAROLINA KREJCI, 14, CZECH REPUBLIC
 Land: Cultivating our Future Are GMOs the answer? Go Organic
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are The dominant feature of environmental
Increased human activity and a growing population is putting increased strain on land and plants whose genetic make-up has been debate since Rio has been the increase in
34 agriculture. An estimated $31.85 billion is needed to implement its recommendation. Sounds a changed in some way. Scientists can do public demand for safe, organically 35
lot. Well the USA spends $110 billion each year just on fast food! What price food for all?! this by transferring desirable qualities from grown food. Organic food is grown
one organism to another, simply by without chemical pesticides in natural
The Rome Food Summit separating and transferring the genes. For surroundings. The USA has seen a
AGENDA 21 In 1996, the UN Food & the number of hungry people by example, they can make crops grow faster huge increase in CSA, or Community
SAYS Agriculture Organisaation (FAO) 2015. In a follow-up conference or make a crop resistant to a certain Supported Agriculture. Similar
hosted the World Food Summit in in 2001, they checked on their herbicide. Scientists have developed a new schemes exist in Europe and Japan.
• Bring together everyone who works
Rome. 185 nations vowed to progress and found that the strain of rice that allows the same CSAs are farming cooperatives that
on the land for planning meetings
achieve universal food security number of malnourished people field to produce three crops a year. grow organic food for sale and
(local farmers, managers, business
people, local officials, sales agents, access for all people at all times to was only falling by 6-8 million a Sounds great, doesn’t it? Problem personal consumption by the
scientists, and government sufficient, high-quality safe food. year. The figure needs to be at is, these crops are being intro- co-op members. Organic farming
officials). This was the first time that least 20 million each year to reach duced without testing the long- is a good alternative in many
• Provide advice to farmers on the use governments pledged to halve the 2015 goal. term effects they may have on places because it requires more
of environmentally friendly land, other crops, local wildlife human input, which creates
fertilisers.  and, not least, the humans that employment. Furthermore, it is not
• Encourage farmers to switch to CASE STUDY consume them! They even harmful to the land and local
alternative energy sources.  admit not knowing the effects eco-systems that it supports.
• Educate them on methods of In the past decade, British agriculture they may have!
preserving topsoil.  has suffered two major crises: “mad
• Raise people’s awareness about land cow disease” (BSE) and Foot and
Mouth. Both were caused by poor
use through education and
intensive farming methods. BSE
campaigns. 
resulted from beef cows
being fed crushed bone
and brain of other cows.
Foot and Mouth spread quickly
because livestock was transported
to markets and other farms. If we
want to feed the world’s growing
population and meet the
Food Summit
goals, we must be
WHAT YOU CAN DO
VIA

sure that we have

OSLA

Educate yourself about the food you

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

the land and
UG

agricultural methods eat. Read the labels, know all the

17, Y

to do it safely. ingredients in your food and where

AS,

Tom Burke, 17, UK

TUMB

they came from. Try to support local

farmers so you know who grows your
EA
ANDR

food.
 City of Dreams
Welcome to the city of dreams where tons of fun is waiting for you: a good job, theatres, cine-
36 mas, shopping centres, museums... Ohhh! Did you come alone? You don’t like the traffic jams?
Nor the overcrowding? Sorry, just keep on dreaming!
Cities cover 2% of the world’s
surface, but accommodate 75% of
its population. The cities chapter
of Agenda 21 was estimated to be
the most expensive to implement -
$218 billion. Practically none of it
was raised! The UN held a ‘City
AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Homeless and unemployed must get
access to land, credit and low cost
building materials. 
• People are provided protection from
unfair eviction. 
• All urban areas need access to clean
water, sanitation, waste collection. 
• Construction programmes should
encourage the use of local materials
that do not harm health or the
environment, and energy efficient
designs. 
• Rural living conditions and services
should be improved to discourage
migration to the cities. 
• Clean and efficient transportation
strategies must be developed.
Summit’ in Istanbul in 1995 - and
they have a whole Agency,
‘Habitat’, dedicated to solving the
problems of cities, where 51% of
the world’s people now live.
Cleaning up slums is one of the
UN’s Millennium Development
Goals and it is a massive task.
There are 19 mega-cities in the
world with populations of over 10
million; 14 of these are in less
developed countries. There are
many slums and shanty-towns with
no safe fresh-water, no sanitation,
few schools and health centres.
There is high unemployment and
high crime rates. All in all not the
ideal place to live. Massive
investment in these areas is
needed, but more importantly, the
people who live in them,
especially the young people, must
be empowered to build, secure and
KOSSI OGOUBI, 21, TOGO
CASE STUDY
Our city, Bitola, is the second biggest 37
city in Macedonia. There’s a printing
plant nearby that badly pollutes the
environment. Because the city is dirty
Pros and Cons of Living in the City
anyway, people don’t care about
keeping it clean. They throw garbage
everywhere. That is why we started our People moving from rural areas can
waste management project. If there are too many people have access to health care and edu-
cation, which they didn’t when they
We decided to measure the waste living a city the sanitation
lived in rural areas.
produced in the period of a week. We and hygiene will deteriorate.
People have a better chance of
calculated the average amount of Disease can spread much
making more money in the city and
faster. Cities are thus disease there are a greater variety of
waste produced per person in one day
is 0.3 kg.
factories often with limited opportunities.
healthcare. There is more interaction between
In measuring the waste, we discovered people. There is entertainment and
some interesting things like the fun, like cinema and the theatre,
LORIE ANNE FULLERO, 16, PHILIPPINES
amount of garbage produced actually and new technology to explore.
differs throughout the year.
People move to the cities to find
work. If there are more people
We talked with the authorities and more jobs are needed. Many of
environmental organisations about these people are unskilled and
how to clean our city. We realised that unemployment will rise.
the first task is to change people’s
mentality. When people think
cleanliness is important, they will take
Cities are full of traffic jams and con-
the time and make an effort to
change. That will result in a cleaner gestion. The cars emit poisonous gases
run their own communities. Urban
environment. While they don’t care, so just walking along the street can be
communities are tremendously
a health hazard.
resourceful and it is the human nothing will change.
When people move into cities from
resources that must be mobilised Goce Ristovski, 17 , Macedonia rural areas, they aren’t used to the
along with the financial. cramped conditions. The pressure leads
to social breakdown, family problems,
S
INE
IPP
crime and violence.
HIL
,P
16,
RO
NADJA JURCA, 16, SLOVENIA
LE
UL
F
NE
IE AN
LO R
 Expelling Poverty BITIS’S POVERTY

Birth gave life to poor little Bitis.

Eradicating poverty is not so much about bringing everyone to the same level but to
At five, he sold fresh fish, what a pity…
38
give the opportunity to each individual to participate in society and earn a living in a At six, he hoped to start his education, 39
sustainable way. Bitis had plenty of dedication.
Instead, he was given a cutlass made of brass
To cut his own and neighbours’ grass.
THE ROOTS OF POVERTY POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT At fifteen, Bitis left the village for the city,
The number of people living in Ten years ago, it became clear that But no school = no job for him, poor Bity.
extreme poverty has increased poverty and the environment were At eighteen, frustrated, he joined a very bad gang.
At nineteen, he ended up dead with a very big “bang”.
since Rio - it is now over a billion. two interdependent issues. If we
Poverty was the virus that killed poor Bitis.
Roughly 300 million people want the man who’s chopping down
From beyond the grave, I can hear his cry:
around the World live on less large parts of the Amazon to make a
NO EDUCATION, NO LIFE!
than $1 a day. Yet the number of living to then worry about Ezikpe Okoro, 17, Nigeria
Billionaires in the USA has tripled deforestation and global warming,
poverty must be addressed.
over the same period.
Inequality is a powerful root
However, environmental concerns
of poverty, but poverty is
are not always the same from one
more than just a lack of country to another. Global warming
AGENDA 21 SAYS
money. Poverty is about the is surely a big issue on the • Give responsibility to local groups and
lack of opportunity to international arena but does not women. 
participate fully in society. affect people as directly as lack of • Enable local people to participate in
Other roots of poverty are the clean water in certain countries. the protection and sustainable man-

LEANDRO AHL, 17, ARGENTINA

absence of human rights, clean agement of the environment. 
water, health and security. Current policies regarding poverty • Provide free primary education for all
Prosperity starts not necessarily and the environment are more boys and girls. 
with money, but the presence of locally based and acknowledge that • Cancel unpayable national debt.
these these things in people’s some communities experience
environmental problems in very
lives. The UN has set itself a tar-
different ways.
get of halving the number of
people living in extreme
poverty by 2015. Let’s hold WHAT YOUTH CAN DO? THE UN SOCIAL SUMMIT, COPENHAGEN, 1994:
them to it! The Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development promised to:
• Eradicate absolute poverty by a date agreed by each country.
“We all have the right to be economically
independent. Young women and men should be • Have universal free access to education & primary health care.
empowered to start their own enterprises not wait • Increase % of national budgets for social development.
around for hand-outs or jobs in government.” In the 5-year review, it was found that governments have set up
Samuel Alege, 15, Nigeria
national anti-poverty programmes, actions to create economic
ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND growth, new social security systems and given more money for
Poverty is everyone’s resposibility. We must
public services and income-generating activities.
acknowledge and raise awareness about these issues if
we are to tackle them effectively. You think you can’t However, in the Least Developed Countries, lack of international
“In order to achieve sustainable forest management, it is necessary to first eradicate assistance, crippling debt and poor trade conditions, corruption,
do anything to help... Wrong, you can help!
poverty. If we do not, the forests of Madagascar will disappear” Nisha Khanna, 17, India and crises like war & HIV/AIDs have prevented progress.
Saidi Mohamed & Sitroka Ramavoharitoandro, 17, Madagascar
 FAIR TRADE AND ME! AGENDA 21
Consumption: In One End... I always try to buy Fair Trade
SAYS
• Consume less, use less energy. 
because it makes me feel a whole • Eco-label less harmful products. 
Consumption is the one area where we can all make a difference, especially young people! The
lot better about shopping. Fair • Make eco-friendly products cheaper
money in your pocket has a lot of power. If we can persuade big companies that we are interested
40
40 Trade means that the producers by taxing eco-harmful ones.  41
in sustainable consumption - organic products, clothes and shoes that are not made in sweat
get a guaranteed price that justly • Tax industries that pollute or spoil
shops by child labour - they will begin to make products that adhere to our sustainable values. limited nature resources, support
rewards their work and skills. This
eco-friendly industry. 
gives them a regular income. It
• Develop sources of renewable
Young people are advertisers’ best friends! Over-consumption causes other problems enables them to plan for the
energy. 
We are targeted because we are big like crime and discrimination may arise as future, send their children to
• Help developing countries in building
consumers. We are often impulse buyers, a result of our purchasing decisions. The school and invest in their business.
their economies. 
purchasing things that we later find we don’t waste from producing some goods can Fair Trade producers also have
need. In the process, we rake in profits for cause air and water pollution. decent working conditions, no
large companies. forced labour of children, healthcare.
This is an area where I think It aims to create dignified and
‘Is it cool?’ ‘What will my friends there has been absolutely fair tade between consumers and
think?’ Peer pressure is the no progress since Rio. producers. There are just not WHAT YOU
main reason for spending We are just as greedy, enough of these products on the CAN DO
amongst my friends who and still at the market right now though!
have money to spend. mercy of the global • Always check for eco-labels on GOCE RISTOVSKI, 17, FYR MACEDONIA
FACTOR 4
Barely a thought goes advertising industry. Stephanie de Verteuil, 17, UK/ Canada everything you buy.
into the consequences • Buy, and get your parents and Factor 4 is one of the most
of our consumption. If youth reject friends to buy, Fair Trade brilliant ideas since Rio. It
We rarely think if we brand culture, and MATERIALISM - THE BLIGHT products when ever you can. means getting twice as much
really need what we encourage adults OF CANADA • Limit your shopping try not to from half the resources, living
purchase, and certainly to do the same; if buy anything unless you twice as well on half as much.
Canada is a wonderful country to
not about how it got to we buy based on absolutely need it. Examples include putting a
live in, but materialism makes the
the store, or what will quality, eco-labels • Make a habit of saving energy: 20-volume encyclopaedia on a
people less wonderful.
happen to it once I have and real need, we turn off lights and computers, CD-ROM; or a low wattage
Materialism takes away
finsihed with it. can really help to use low energy light bulbs light bulb that gives the same
individuality, dictates our
reduce people’s throughout your house and amount of light from a third of
thoughts, and maps out our
unsustainable school, use your bicycle the power; or a car that goes
dreams. Keeping up with the
consumption. instead of a car, get your twice as far on half the fuel.
latest trends makes many
CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU parents to buy the most Factor 4 conserves resources
Canadians passive, unaware of
Stephanie de fuel-efficient car on the and helps the environment. It
what is happening to their fellow
Verteuil, 17, market. is a key to sustainability.
human beings and to the environ-
In Europe, we buy $11 billion UK/ Canada • Reduce, repair, re-use, recycle - Scientists are now working on
ment. Most Canadians know little
dollars worth of ice cream each never buy new unless you Factor 10 and Factor 20, even
year. Primary education for of where products come from,
have to. Factor 100 technologies!
every child on the planet would who made them, or their true
cost just $6 billion. Imagine... • Buy enough to meet your Luke Murray, 17, UK
value.
Katie Paroschy,15, Canada needs, not your greed!
 MONEY MAKES THE WORLD All those packages are going to be

... and Out the Other: WASTE GO ROUND… ?

“Why do we pay for useless

incinerated. And we are the first
victims of incineration, with its
toxic, harmful effect on health. So
packaging that pollutes our the second basic question is: ‘ARE
If we learned anything from Rio, it was the four “Rs” - reduce, repair, re-use, recycle. In less planet. The first basic question is: WE PAYING TO DIE?’”
42 developed countries they have done this for ages as a way of life; now industrialised countries are ‘ARE WE PAYING TO POLLUTE?’ 43
Maia Sarrouf, 17, Lebanon
realising the benefits of it. But we can do so much more.
ash. The heat can be used to
EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO generate electricity. However,
AGENDA 21 KNOW ABOUT WASTE DISPOSAL incineration also releases toxic
SAYS gases.
Mobius Loop: The chasing arrows
• Reduce waste, recycle, and tax
symbol indicates a product can be
packaging materials.  Re-thinking: Thinking again on
• Require that industry adopt cleaner
recycled or contains recycled what your purchase will do to the
production methods.  material. Each arrow represents a environment. Reduce the amount
• Promote the transfer of low waste part of the cycle: (1) of harmful
production methods to less developed the manufacturer, products that
countries.
(2) the consumer, you buy,
• Let people know the risks of the
and (3) completing
chemicals they are exposed to. repair old
the loop, the things, reuse
• Clean up contaminated areas and give
help to their inhabitants. recycling industry. them when
• Make polluters pay clean up costs.  you’re done,
• Ensure the military disposes of their and finally,
hazardous wastes properly. Full-Life Management: recycle!
• Ban export of hazardous waste to When manufacturers
countries not equipped to deal with it.
take back their used
 DENISE SMITH, 15, CANADA
products for recycling. They do it
with printer cartridges. BMW TALKING NUMBERS

9
1 m stack of newspaper = one GARBAGE MOUNTAINS HERE TO STAY!

2
pioneered the concept with
their cars.
10 metre high evergreen tree.
5
16 trees = the number of trees required to
CASE STUDY
In recent times, government agencies have taken up the

4
RESULTS OF A SURVEY ON make one tonne of newsprint. challenge to clean my town, Enugu, of waste. Garbage has
RECYCLING DONE IN A Landfill: A huge hole dug in 68 trees = one tonne of bond (fine white) covered streets, open spaces, market places, and even
EUROPEAN SCHOOL: the earth to fill with paper. government premises. Their efforts involved the removal of
garbage. Alternate layers of 57 kg of waste paper = what the average dumping sites. The waste was carried away on the massive
Think we should recycle
Do generally recycle
93%
74%
garbage and soil are built up
over a long period.
8
office worker produces each year.
25% less energy = the amount of energy
trucks of the contractors. Landlords and tenants welcomed
the plan and willingly paid the monthly dues. For a while it

7
you save by making cardboard from looked as if the plan was going to work. But soon the
Cans 50% recycled cardboard instead of new wood
interest flagged; the contractors’ trucks ceased to rumble.

3
Bottles 84% Incineration: The process of fibre.
Refuse mountains with foothills of plastic bags once again
Paper 94% burning combustible waste, 3 hours of TV = the amount of electricity
you save by making an aluminium can spread down our streets, gutters became choked with
Glass 92% producing heat, gases and
from recycled cans instead of raw ore. garbage. The air was filled with smoke from burning waste.
Cardboard 65% Waste disposal in Enugu is a success waiting to happen. lets
not give up!
JOHNSON AGWU, 21, NIGERIA
Chioma Ogazie, 16, Nigeria

Population: Getting Crowded
In Rescue Mission, a World Bank official called the $35 it costs to give a girl a year of primary
44 education ‘the best $35 you’ll ever spend...’ because if you give it to a hundred girls, they will
have 50 less babies! Slowing down sky-rocketing population growth (almost a billion new
mouths to feed since Rio!) is maybe the most urgent and sensitive challenge we face.
AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Countries need to assess how the
changing age structure of their
populations will make new demands
on resources in the future. 
• There should be appropriate
reproductive health programmes to
reduce maternal and infant mortality,
and provide both men and women
with the information and means to
plan family size. 
• Empowerment of women in schools,
the workplace, and in decision
making is an essential part of
population control.
SANDRA PEREK & ANIA KLIMOWICZ, 15, POLAND
INTERVIEW WITH HERBERT PETERSON M.D, DEPARTMENT OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RESEARCH,
WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
population of the world has conferences were held in the
tripled, use of water increased 6 1990’s, including the International
fold. That means each of us is Conference on Population and 45
using twice as much water. This is Development in Cairo, in 1994.
is a serious concern because the One of the important objectives
world’s supply of fresh water is adopted during this conference
limited. The problem is not simply was to have 60% of primary
“I strongly believe that educating girls about too many people and too few healthcare facilities offering the
Cara: Why do you feel family resources but how to use available widest possible range of safe and
sex at the right age is the best way to stabilise resources to the benefit of all. effective family planning methods
planning is so important?
population growth. Using contraception is by 2005. By 2015, all primary
Dr. Peterson: Firstly can I say Cara: What are the main goals of healthcare facilities should offer
important because anyone is liable to temptation.” that I am speaking for myself and family planning? these methods.
not for WHO. Family planning is Cara Peterson, 13, USA
Marie Bangura, 18, Sierra Leone
important for the wellbeing of Dr. Peterson: A series of UN
individuals and for the planet as a
whole. For individuals, family
• World population has doubled since 1960. It is planning helps to assure that
currently growing at 1.2%, or 77 million people, a being a parent is a conscious
decision. Although family planning
year. Estimates for total population in 2050 range
has increased dramatically in the
from 8-13 billion. Almost all this growth will be in developing
last 3 decades, 350 million couples
regions, half of it in India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh
didn’t have access to the broad
and Indonesia.
range of family planning methods
• The population of more developed regions, currently 1.2 billion, now available to many. At least
is expected to change little during the next 50 years. 120 million couples are not using
• By 2050, the population of 39 countries, such as Japan, Italy and any at all.
the Ukraine, is actually projected to be smaller.
• The population of less developed regions is projected to rise Cara: You mentioned that family
steadily from 4.9 billion in 2000 to between 8.2 and 11.6 billion planning has an impact on the
in 2050. planet. How so?
• Life expectancy is expected to continue rising. By 2050 it could
reach 82 in more developed regions, 75 in less developed Dr. Peterson: Everyone on the
regions. planet should be able to enjoy a
healthy, happy and long life, but
• Despite the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the
large increases in population
population of the most affected countries will continue to rise
have had and will continue to
due to high fertility rates. Only in South Africa will the
have an inevitable impact on
epidemic reduce population.
human health and on the
• Growing population, combined with unsustainable consumption environment. Let’s look at water
patterns is putting increased stress on air, land, water, energy as a global resource. While the
and other essential resources.
SAMUEL BAIDOO, 19, GHANA

Population: The Numbers Game
World population reached 6.2 billion in mid-2002. the consequences of an ever increasing
population are clear. But how to slow population growth? Promoting family planning, birth control,
46
access to reproductive health care and empowering women, but are governments doing it?
CASE STUDY: KENYA
The current population of
Kenya is 30 million and rising,
despite the falling life expectan-
cy due to HIV/AIDS. 60% of the
population is aged 25 and
below.
Programmes to empower young
women have already taken root.
However, these programmes
have received mixed reactions
amongst families and achieved
similarly mixed results.
Reproductive health care servic-
es are picking up, but the pace is
not always encouraging.
Often parents and teachers find
it hard to talk to us about sex.
Sex education is not always
taught in schools because the
church and government do not
support it. Similarly abortion is a
sensitive issue and is not dis-
cussed.
Poor health care services, a
dwindling economy, and limited
natural resources mean there is
an urgent need to stabilise the
population of Kenya quickly.
Bikundo Onyari, 23, Kenya
“The only problem a country faces, with or
CASE STUDY: UK
without a large population, is ensuring
resources are not over utilised.”
Britain has one of the highest
teenage pregnancy rates inK Solarin Olamide, 15, Nigeria 47
Europe. Every year some 90,000
teenagers in England become
Ghana, shown here, has pregnant. They include nearly
a population of almost 8,000 who are under 16. Twice as
20 million. This is high as in Germany, three times as
expected to increase to high as in France and six times as
about 27 million by high as in the Netherlands. This is
2010, and 36.6 million by not something we are proud of,
2020. The population will so it is something young people
probably have doubled are taking action on.
by the time I am 40! This Young people are working with
will put unbelievable their peers here to educate them
strain on an already and empower them to make
stressed environment informed choices. While some
and economy. We people don’t want teenagers to
read about the have sex - they do. The key is to
problem in the give teenagers information,
newspapers, but access to contraception, and
we don’t really advice. This enables young people
know what is to prevent unwanted pregnancies
being done about and protect themselves from
it. Is it enough? sexually transmitted infections.
Probably not. Teenage pregnancy isn’t just
OBED PREMPEH, 17, GHANA about sex. There is a striking link
between countries with high
teenage pregnancy rates and
those with high numbers of
school drop-outs and wide gaps
“Lebanon is one of those countries where
between the richest and poorest
religion has a great impact on society. So sectors of society. By attacking
inequality in the UK we can also
contraception, abortion and all topics related
combat the number of teenage
to sexuality are big taboos. It’s time to move pregnancies.
on.”
Tom Burke, 17, UK
Maia Sarrouf, 17, Lebanon
JOHNSON AGWU, 21, NIGERIA
 Health: Doctor, Where?
‘Health for all by the year 2000’was what Agenda 21 promised. This was not achieved, so is
48 now a goal to be reached by 2015. You may think it sounds too idealistic, but perhaps we need
to aspire to an ideal to be able to meet the real health needs of today. It is estimated that to
achieve health for all by 2015 will cost $38 billion a year. About the same as Europe spends on
pet food! Are we going to find it? - we hope!
AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Eliminate diseases like river blindness,
and leprosy.
• Control tuberculosis, measles and cut
childhood deaths due to diarrhoea by
50-70%. Immunise all children.

• Strengthen services for youth in
health, education and social sectors to
provide better education, counselling
and treatment for health problems.

• Establish anti-malaria programmes
in countries where malaria presents
a significant health problem.

• Use effective traditional knowledge
in national health-care systems.

• All nations to identify environmental
health hazards and take steps to
reduce them. 
• Establish standards for industrial
hygiene, use of pesticides, maximum
permitted safe noise and exposure
levels to ultraviolet radiation. 
• Protect vulnerable groups, such as
children, the elderly and the disabled.

20.000
HEALTH FOR ALL.
Governments committed years ago
To Health for EVERYONE!
Disease is life’s greatest setback!
They cried - Let’s have Health for all!
Debates continue - people die;
Commitments ignored - people die;
Progress, if any, has been short lived.
Health remains a privilege for the
rich!
Health for all I insist.
Bikundo Onyari, 23, Kenya
YOUTH AND DRUGS
We did a survey with young people aged 12-17 at my school and found that
“There are two temporal
a surprising 26% of the students surveyed had taken drugs, and 18% said blessings; health and
money. Money is the
that they would take drugs if a good friend offered them. It may not seem
49
all that much, but it’s far from the ideal. And this is just a typical school. most envied but the least
Drugs are a much bigger health problem than we would often like to admit enjoyed, health is the
and it isn’t getting any better. Across every section of society around the most enjoyed but the
World this is a
Have you ever taken drugs? Would you take drugs if a close
least envied. The superiority
serious problem,
friend offered them to you? of the latter is still most
especially for
youth. What is it
obvious when we reflect
going to take that the poorest man
for people to wouldn´t part with health
Yes Yes
No No take action? for money, but the richest
Dou you think drug awarness is Dou you think adults do enough to Jenna Troup 13, would gladly part with all
important?
educate kids about drugs? USA his money for health.”
DASHA STENKOVAIA, 15, RUSSIA
Nyantakyi Owusu Quayson, 20,
Ghana
Unsure
Yes Yes
No No
TRADITIONAL HEALING vs. MODERN MEDICINE - WHY FIGHT?!
In Africa there is lots of conflict between doctors pharmaceutical drugs that may not necessarily be
and traditional healers. Some people choose to go the best for the ailment in question. I think the
to traditional healers, others mainstream doctors. only solution is for doctors and traditional healers
Traditional healers have vast cultural knowledge to come together and discuss things. Together they
on traditional treatments, but usually lack the can work towards finding ways to best help their
NUMBER OF PEOPLE PER DOCTOR
modern technology that mainstream doctors have communities.
at hand. Modern doctors treat diseases with Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa
5.000
ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA
2.000
700
300
Russia Argentina Venezuela India Chad
 “I’M A VERY LUCKY LITTLE BOY...” - BREAKING THE SILENCE!

AIDS: No Longer the Silent Killer “Care for us and accept us. We are
human beings. We are normal. We
can walk. We can talk. We have
ablaze with warmth and passion.
“I’m a very lucky little boy,” he said
ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA
poignantly, lucky because he had a
loving guardian who cared for him.
Nkosi is a symbol of hope. He iden-
HIV/AIDS is not simply a health issue, it is the biggest social issue we face today. Since
needs just like everybody else.” tified the harsh reality and injustice
Rio it has wiped out years of progress in development and effects every aspect of life
50 associated with AIDs and inspired 51
from time we are born to the time we die.
These are the wise words spoken people to break the silence.
by 11-year-old Nkosi Johnson at

• 70% of AIDS cases are in Africa. WANTED!!! the June 2001 Durban AIDS
conference. Having been born with
Sadly, he passed away 11 months
after making this speech. But in
• It is not just an African problem. In
the virus, he now found it difficult part because of his memory and
Haiti over 5% of the adult population
to drag his body on stage. On the courage, the silence has indeed
is infected. In India 7 in 1000 adult AIDS
outside, he looked weak and frail, been broken.
cases were reported in 2000. This
dressed in a suit that hung on his
translates into 3.7 million infected adults. Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa
body. On the inside, his heart was
• In the USA and Europe, behaviour that
increases the risk of infection is once AGENDA 21
again rising.
SAYS
• In Uganda, AIDS awareness campaigns have • Mobilise and

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

cut the infection rate from 30% to 11% ‘Today’ unify national and
s young international efforts
parents peo
and lead ple are tomorro
between 1992 and 2000
to control HIV/ AIDS
• 70% of teacher deaths in Côte d’Ivoire are a vital ro ers, an w’s by 2015. 
le
direct result of HIV. in terms in the future of d will play a
of its en t
• AIDS drugs are expensive. Only 17,000 of vironmen he world both
t and it
South Africa’s 5 million sufferers get s people.’
HIV/ AIDS VIRUS Alex Ad usei, 21,
them. ARMED AND DANGEROUS Ghana
,
HAS KILLED MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE
a k of ignorance
he clo
TAKE PRECAUTIONS
ts no ‘Dispel t supersti
tion
BE INFORMED! ‘It spares nobody, respec sm a nd
“The HIV epidemic is one, Yet too many still
persist mystici th e disea
se
urround s
ey are that s
altering the social and in the attitude that th e du cate th
e
tion’. equate ly
economic fabric of somehow immune to infec and ad
bade, 21 Nigeria
Onize bayo, 15 and Bumni Oye
society in many public.’ , 13, Nige
ukwu
ria
Alex Ilech
countries around the
“Of all the challenges that youth ‘My frien
world, having a face this century, the most formida-
ds make jo
kes about
virus. Nob the AIDS
knock-on effect on ble and apocalyptic is the AIDS ody in my
affected b school know
virus. “ y it. Ther s anyone
agriculture, business, e are sex
classes in
‘Spread the message,
Bumni Oyebade, Nigeria
my school education
not tell us but the te
education, and of “While we, the youth, are the most anything a achers do not the virus’.
bout AIDS.’
course healthcare.” affected by the virus, we are also Charles Ugochukwu, 14, Nigeria
the key to beating it!”
Supritha Sanjay
CEAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU
, 13, India
Vera Akatsa-Bukachi, 19, Kenya David Ssemwogere, 21, Uganda

SAMUEL OKWERE, 16, NIGERIA & ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

 53

Section 3

Major
Groups

WOMEN ROCK 54

S C I E N C E : V I R T U A L A D VA N C E 56

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS 58

L O C A L A G E N D A 2 1 : S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

B E G I N S AT H O M E 60

N G O S : N O N - G O V E R N M E N TA L O V E R D R I V E

62

FA R M E R S : E N D A G E R E D S P E C I E S ? 63

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: THE POWER

OF THE SPIRIT 64

Y O U T H : PA R T I C I PAT E ! 66

ESD: LEARNING TO SURVIVE 67

BLACK HOLES:

GAPS IN AGENDA 21 68

RIGHTS FOR ALL! 69

Andrea Tumbas, 17, Yugoslavia

WA R & P E A C E 70

SHOW ME THE MONEY 72

TA K I N G C O N T R O L : G O V E R N A N C E F O R

S U S TA I N A B I LT I Y 74
 Women Rock THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN

Women, since creation a helpmate to man,

You are used against your will
Your pride as a woman is lost
Women have come a long way in the ten years since Rio. They are arguably the most powerful
Have been experiencing a life of slavery. It’s time to reinstate your lost pride.
citizen’s lobby at the UN. Their share of parliamentary seats is rising as is their share of senior They are as voiceless as tombs Women - start beating the drum!
54 management positions. But women still only earn 78% of a man’s wage for the same work, and 55
Women oh! Women what kind of plight is this?
discrimination against the world’s poorest women remains a violation of their human rights. Hannah Conteh, 18, Sierra Leone

“Women hold up half the sky!” the gender gap in school role to play in achieving
Women made a huge impact on enrolment by 2005. Many countries sustainable development and in
the Rio process and remain still enrol more boys than girls in order to do it they need to be
powerful leaders of it. The UN has school. Two thirds of those who empowered. We can no

IA
ND

ZAN
18, POLA
one main, and several subsidiary never get to school are girls. A lot longer afford to

19, TAN
targets in relation to women. The of work to do in three years. The alienate

ICZ,
main one is to eliminate UN also aims to promote the role them.

LAURE,
CHNOW
of women in the decision-making

SALEM M
process. Women have a huge

ANNA JU
MAIA SARROUF, 17, LEBANON

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

BEIJING CONFERENCE
Over 36,000 women attended the
Beijing Women’s Conference, making it • In 1997, nearly 4 million women held more than one job.
IA one of the largest United Nations
SLAV
17 , YUGO conferences. The main themes were
AS, • Fewer than one quarter of new mothers leave the paid labour force
REA
TUMB
AND the advancement of women, women’s for a substantial period after childbirth.
rights, poverty, women in decision
making, the girl-child, and violence • Only 6.8% of the world’s cabinet ministers are women.
against women.
AGENDA 21 The Beijing Declaration and Platform • 11.7% of the seats in the world’s parliaments are held by women.
SAYS Only 8 countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands,
of Action were signed by all
• Eliminate violence, persistent sexual stereotypes and prejudices against participants. This Declaration agreed Norway, Sweden and South Africa) have reached the UN’s target of
women in 30% of seats.
women. to:
• Reduce their workload at home and outside the home as well as • Recognise violence against women
• Women’s share of the paid employment work pool has risen slight-
encourage men to share household tasks with women. as a human rights problem. ly: Ukraine is top of the list with 54% of paid jobs going to women;
• Value of unpaid work, including domestic work when measuring the • Place special importance on the right Chad is the bottom with 5%.
of women to act free of all pressures
state of the economy.
respecting their sexual and • In most of the 59 countries for which we have data, more women
• Encourage women to educate themselves in sustainable consumption.
reproductive health. are achieving senior managerial positions. In only 16 of them do
 • Identify the need for equality they occupy the 30% target for those positions.
• Ensure a role for women in ecosystem management to control regarding the Right of Inheritance
environmental degradation. and for women to have an equal • Rural women produce 55% of the food grown in developing coun-
share of parental property. tries, but they make up only 31% of the paid labour force.
 Science: Virtual Advance
Rio took place at the dawn of the Internet age, so ‘Technology Transfer’ - the sharing of science …”My worry is that other advances in
and technology among all countries was a big issue. The speed at which technology is advancing science may result in other means of
56 these days is incredible, but is it the same everywhere? How much of this technology is benefitting mass destruction, maybe more readily 57
the people who really need some amazing solutions?
available even than nuclear weapons.”

Joseph Rotblat, British physicist

AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Full and open sharing of
information by scientists on matters
that would support sustainable
development. 
• More efficient use of resources,
including a massive increase in
number of scientists working in the
less developed world. 

• 50% of the world has never heard

a dial tone.
• Fewer than 1% of the people are
connected to the internet.
• There are only 1 million Internet
users in the entire continent of
Africa.
• Some 90% of Genetic Engineering
research is funded by the biotech
industry.
 AGENDA 21

GOCE RIVSTOVSKI, 17, FYR MACEDONIA

SAYS
Getting Down to Business • Workers should work with employers
to improve eco-policies, working
Business and industry are often criticised for being the enemy of sustainable development. Make conditions, health and safety.

as much money first, then worry about the consequences on the environment and local commu- • Trade unions should train workers and
58 give them the skills to lead sustainable 59
nities later. This is still true for many companies. Sustainable development is not their top priority, livelihoods.
but things are changing and much progress has been made.

THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS promoting sustainability in the

AGENDA 21
SAYS
• Businesses should create responsible
and ethical policies to reduce their
impact on the environment and local
communities. 
• Governments should come up with
incentives, laws and standards to
ensure cleaner production.
• National councils for Sustainable
Development should be created to
work with experts. These should
include large multinationals right
DANIEL NUÑEZ, 20, PERU
Trade Unions are used to dealing
with industrial change and are
therefore vital to sustainable
development, since workers will
be amongst those most affected
by the radical changes needed
to achieve it.
The goal is that everyone should
have a job that leads to a
sustainable livelihood both at
work and beyond. Full
workplace. Trade Unions are
responsible for this education.
Only after being educated can
workers begin to hold employers
accountable for implementing
sustainable management policies.
In some businesses this is already
being done. Workers take part
in volunteering schemes, and
support projects in their local CASE STUDY
communities through charitable

down to small businesses.

Businesses have huge influence over
nearly all aspects of development. If
businesses are to make a positive
contribution to sustainable
development they need to be
more responsible. Businesses need
to respect their local environment,
using resources efficiently, minimising
waste, and taking local communities
into account. In this respect they are
encouraged to carry out
environmental audits and
calculate the environmental
cost of production. Many
initiatives have now begun to
force companies to meet targets
in reducing waste or face being
heavily fined or taxed. Sadly many
of these have not been effective
and are difficult to enforce.
Agenda 21 planned a whole
chapter on the control of large
multinational corporations, but
this was left out because of
strong opposition. Money is very
influential when it comes to
government decisions and policy
making. Current trade regulations
must also be improved if developing
countries are to ever benefit from
• Environmentally sound technologies
should be researched and made freely
available to developing countries. 
it. Ultimately, businesses must be
prepared to sacrifice profits in
return for a sustainable planet and
an improved world for everyone.
However more and more busi-
nesses are now proving that
investing in sustainability is also
profitable, and the creation of
the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development means
that even the biggest companies
are beginning to take it seriously.
Mark Padley, 16, UK
employment is a big enough donation schemes. These sort of Ben & Jerry’s is an American ice
cream company, which has always
challenge in itself given the projects must be encouraged
been socially aware. As well as
growing world population. and publicised as they are sadly
supporting local farmers, in 1985 it
However, we must ensure that still few and far between, but
established a foundation to
workers are educated about those that exist are encouraging.
empower employees to work
sustainable development issues towards eliminating environmental
so they can take an active role in and social problems. Ben & Jerry’s
uses some of its profits to make
CASE STUDY donations to organisations
worldwide as well as supporting
In October 2001, Goldfields Ghana Ltd. spilled cyanide into the Esumen and
community projects in its home
Huni rivers, resulting in the death of fish and other untold environmental and
state of Vermont.
human risks. The company’s lack of environmental management and disregard
Recently they have been working
for the well-being of local people lead them to refute accusations of the
with groups in West Africa to stop
dangers posed by the spillage, saying they detected only a small amount of
child trafficking, especially in the
cyanide in the rivers. the public was repeatedly assured of their safety.
chocolate industry. Their ‘one
If companies that use dangerous chemicals can be so ignorant of the materials
sweet whirled’ campaign focuses
they handle and treat their spillage with such abandon, then what is our fate in
on the reduction of Greenhouse
life from these companies? While there is no accountability for polluters, who pays
Gases. They have even set
to clean up the mess they cause, and what help is there to people affected by it?
themselves targets to reduce
Thanks to Professor Oduro who came out against the company to brief the emissions in their own factories.
public, the Ghanaian government has set up a committee to help prevent
Frizo Schlingemann, 16,
contamination by mining companies.
Netherlands
Evans Kwesi Dom, 19, Ghana
 yle
t st
bare

Sustainability Begins at Home to p

ut t
ntati
o
o
geth
n o
er a
f the
ir v
c

al, so
i
a
e
ci
w
a
s
l
. The
, e conom
show
ic,
fficer
s
prese o n ment e n ior o
Many of the problems and solutions discussed in this book have their roots in local activities. Being env ir ues . S we er
ad a links al iss uncil
K ! I h tio n ity Co
the level of government closest to the people, local government and authorities therefore have a key ll, , U duca the C
Russe ymou
th
le fr
om and e s of
60 Dear in Pl peop em b e r ance. huge
, 61
role in making sustainable development happen. ! I am ou n g Local and m e rform es is
Hello the y s on’s t h e p
act iv iti
ted
it h Pe r a d to enera
ing w oung oing invite their g
meet th Y are d xtent
o f th a s t
m o u h ey I ee The e rojec itmen
the
Ply
rojec
t. T that
s
lly this p d comm
da 2
1 p ti m e
d to asic a
siasm
a n d the
Agen the f
irst
signe but b n th u e o p le an
“If we are to stand any job! I t’s y d e n of e ung
p
great ficall ecisio a lot he yo
AGENDA 21 speci in d wi t h t
SAYS chance of reaching my oje c t eop l e th y
e both
a pr u n g p in 1 996, Tom
o the s.
ve y xamp
le,
here adult
• By 1996 every local authority should dream of what invol F o r e a y” w b es t
ng… tine d Civic All th
e
maki Valen n the
have consulted with the community and Hertfordshire, and the ised a “
re d e s ig
as l
ater
presented their local agenda 21.  organ le h ad to n w
World should look, p a
youn
g peo w pl nnium
• Local authorities should reshape T h e ir ne y ’s Mille
smell, and be like in ten re. C it shop
community policies and regulations Squa m on g the da y work
ded a wo smallest and most remote communities
taking Agenda 21 into consideration. years time, we will all inclu ld a t
A al so he could express their needs. Then they
YP
• Local authorities are reponsible for have to do our own Bid! P created a Committee with
educating and mobilising the general representatives from each province,
public to implement Agenda 21.
little bit. “ Dear Carolina ! NGOs, and the private sector to
Hello, I’ve just visted Cajamarca in submit a proposal addressing all the
Jakariya Yahiya, 14, UK Peru. The province looks very poor issues covered by Agenda 21. In
U
Z,
PER and polluted. However, things are 1994, the plan was approved by the
UE
SQ
VA getting much better since 1993 when citizens after a referendum!!!
NIO
TO the mayor initiated a Local Agenda 21
AN Since then, they have implemented
plan! projects to provide potable water,
“A Local Agenda 21 for every The key difference in Local Agenda Firstly, they gave more power to sanitation, environmental education
local governments so that even the and rural electrification. The Local
community by 1996!” The Agenda 21 planning is that everybody is
Agenda 21 process has mobilized more
21 target was astonishingly involved - young people, pension-
than US $21 million for sustainable
specific. Of course it wasn’t ers, nurses, businessmen, teachers, development activities since 1993!
achieved. But it was a fantastic mothers, sports groups - everyone! Hi Ve
Hope you’ll include Camajarca in
ra ! your report!
challenge: mayors and local It’s a great process as everyone We’re of th
e spa
still are rsely Stephanie
leaders met through the leader- learns about each other’s concerns. mad in Fi also popu
e a nlan p lated
visit d. Y peop rojec area
ship of various organisations and But only 18 countries have offic
e o to th esterday, le’s t s tha
t are s. Th
inter f SW e ag we envi k n ere
-Fin enda ronm o wled impr
individuals were mobilised, which national structures to co-ordinate view land 2 poin ent by g e o v i ng
co-o e d 1 of
rdin Jaan and ts in placi
created a massive local and evaluate Local Agendas. Lack a t o a w e publ libra ng in the
in t r of A Itälä ic pl ries form
he s gend , th aces, and ation
government movement for of finance is one problem. Lack of sever outh a 21 pr e radi news diffe
al te -wes o o. p a
a t . In F j e c t s susta Educ pers rent
sustainability. According to the community interest is another; regio ms w
orkin inla inab atin
g ch
and
ns a nd, l e on th
the g re su g in conc deve i ldren e
International Council for Local often local people just can’t be overn bmit diffe ern lopm abou
men ting rent speci here ent t
Environmental Initiatives, 6,416 bothered to turn up. We must now appr t . p r o al tr ! T is a
oved When jects aini each lso a
thro it r a pr to to th ng to ers
cities, towns, and counties in 113 more than ever support these ugh eceiv oject eir p t e recei
t h e e i s Hope u pils! a ch th ve
exam agen s fu this ese i
countries have now made a Local processes to allow them to turn ple, da 2 ndin is he ssues
AHA l a st ye 1 offic g lpful
21 pr ar th e. Fo for y
Agenda 21 - or something similar. their agendas into action. oject ey se r our a
to pr t up rticl
otect the All th e.
OONA TASTO, 15, FINLAND the w e bes
aters Oona t.
Tasto
.
 Non-Governmental Overdrive Farmers: Endangered Species?
Rio was where Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) came of age. All of a sudden,
governments listened to them, the UN allowed them to enter and speak at meetings, and There are currently about 1 billion farmers in the world whose livelihood is threatened by land
62 the decisions were richer as a result. NGOs advisory position has strengthened over the last degradation. This is a major concern for all countries because to be able to feed our growing 63
10 years, but many people still question their effectiveness. population, we must rely on farmers to increase their grain production by 40% before the year
2020.

AGENDA 21 Farmers make up almost half of However, farmers wishing to “go “In Togo, farming activities
SAYS the world’s labour force. Organic organic” must hire an organic have become less attractive
farming is a lucrative and certification agency to annually
• Get close communication between since 1992 because people
governments and NGO’s; 
eco-friendly style of farming that inspect their products and make
prefer to migrate to towns
• Increase cooperation between NGO’s
is becoming increasingly popular sure that they conform to organic
for better jobs. The government
themselves;  in the world. The growing farming standards. The cost for
• Improve UN support of NGO’s;  demand for organic products has this service can be expensive, does not support farmers
• Protect the rights of NGO’s to say and created new export opportunities which prevents many farmers sufficiently, so many products
promote things that governments and for less industrialized countries. from entering into the market. are no longer produced locally
industries might not agree with.   and must be imported for a
high price. Farmers in Togo
Of the 80,000 expected to go to should benefit from new
Johannesburg, 60,000 will be agricultural techniques and
representatives of NGOs. Because get compensation for the
of their number and ability to get falling of selling prices.”
things done, NGOs have been at
the forefront of Agenda 21 Akposso Mawuena, 17, Togo
implementation. $7.6 billion of
Overseas Aid is channelled
through NGOs. They pioneered CORINNA PANAYIOTIDES DJAFERIS, 14, AGENDA 21
CYPRUS AND GERMANY,
the ‘Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues’ SAYS
at the UN which bring together
• Develop environmentally sound farming
people representing all sides of the STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF NGO’S practices that improve crop yields, conserve water,
argument. The arrival of the recycle nutrients and control pests and weeds.
Internet has enabled them to • Help farmers share their knowledge with each
STRENGTHS: WEAKNESSES:
network much more effectively in other on soil conservation, reducing and re-using
• Cost effectiveness • Can only do small-scale projects
the years since Rio. It has also farm waste and the most efficient use of water
• Strong grassroots links & • Limited financial expertise
resulted in some well-organised and energy. 
field-based expertise • Low levels of self-sustainability
mass protests like those in Seattle • Encourage self-sufficiency and indigenous
• Innovative & flexible • Limited institutional capacity farming practices.
and Genoa. However, NGOs of all
• Long-term commitment and • Lack of understanding of broader • Support research of equipment that makes
sizes whilst being effective face the
emphasis on sustainability social and economic context optimal use of human labour and animal power.
same problem, legitimacy!
CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU
 The Power of the Spirit FROM SAVING SOULS TO SAVING OUR ENVIRONMENT
Agenda 21 was very clear that the World’s135 million indigenous people should be recognised.
Many of them have been living sustainably with nature for thousands of years in stark Religions are about saving souls, so why can’t they also came together to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of WWF
64 be about saving the environment? The Christian and created a religious conservation 65
contrast to modern destructive way of life. A notable moment in Rio was the ‘Earth
Summit’ where indigenous people and religious leaders came together to lead the way. faith and environmentalism could appear in alliance. Buddhists and Hindus have
opposition as their teaching puts humankind a long tradition of vegetarianism
at the centre of the universe. The famous and not harming any living
AGEND 21 phrase in Genesis talks about men having thing. Islam teaches care for
SAYS “All indigenous peoples dominion over the earth, and in the environment – for water,
Leviticus, "The Earth is mine…" Thus for forests, for animals. The
• Let indigenous people take part in all political decisions affecting them, their land, and have the right to take
the management of resources. there is a tension between the God-given Prophet Mohammed forbids
• Provide indigenous people with suitable technologies to increase the efficiency of their
part in the economic, right to use creation and the God-given mistreatment or the hunting
resource management.  social, political and responsibility to protect and nurture it. of animals for sport. Sikhs,
• Recognise the values, property, culture, social activities, traditional knowledge and In the home town of St Francis, Assisi, Italy in Baha’is, Shintos and others have
resource management practices of indigenous people. 
cultural life of their
1986 representatives of five major faiths – now joined the alliance.
• Protect indigenous peoples’ lands from environmentally unsound activities. country” Buddhism, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims – Katie Paroschy, 15, Canada
• Incorporate the rights and responsibilities of indigenous people into the national Dario Lopez, 21, Paraguay
legislation.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH

CASE STUDY
Aang Who?
It is often thought that to modernise, and
to industrialise is the way forward. For
years indigenous medicine was thought
of as mumbo jumbo. Agenda 21made it
the subject of international conferences.
It has its own department at the World
Health Organisation and is promoted as
an accesible system of health care.
Aang Serian is an organisation set up in
1999 by young people in Arusha,
Tanzania, singers,drummers, painters,
wood-carvers, poets, all wanting to show
off their traditional skills. Their aim was
to preserve and promote Masai culture.
Their educational centre promotes the
kind of education that is not written in
The UN Environment Programme calls on
all religions and indigenous traditions to
celebrate an Environmental Sabbath – to
books. They are even working towards an instruct congregations on the dangers
official Foundation Certifcate in humanity currently poses to the natural
Indigenous Knowledge. world, and to call upon them to adjust
their life-styles to be more in harmony
They try to translate these skills into
with God’s creation. It publishes a guide
livelihoods and show how beneficial they
which starts with a story of an infant
are, especially to young people who sucking on its sick mother’s breast. If the
believe them to be outdated and would infant goes on sucking until the mother
much rather follow Western cultures. dies, the infant must die too. "Humankind
They have opened up a fair trade shop is such an infant. Blessed with a mother of
and even created a studio for recording inestimable beauty, the earth, we have
become careless of the profoundly tragic
traditional music.
loss of a bird’s song, a flower’s scent, a
All over the World , indigenous people
tree’s majesty. STOP the sacrilege! Help us
are recognising that their culture has cash to reach the centre of change: the human
value as well as historic value. heart! We must remember that we are not
God’s only child. If we are indeed the
steward of His divine purpose, we must act
on earth as angels of mercy, not angels of
Gemma Burford, 21, UK
destruction." ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA
KESUMA OLE KASIKASI, TANZANIA
 Youth: PARTICIPATE! Learning to Survive
In Agenda 21, youth were promised participation in decision-making. What’s happened? In some Because the most ‘educated’ people on earth are doing the most damage to the environment,
66 countries, good progress: school and college student councils, Municipal Youth Councils, Youth Agenda 21 called on governments to “re-orient education towards sustainable development.” Most
62 67
Parliaments and Fora have been set up. But in most countries, youth remain disenfranchised - no have not. Education systems are still designed to turn out people well-trained in the exploitation of
votes, no formal participation, no formal voice in the decision-making processes that shape society. So the planet’s resources not in the sustainable use of them.
we have work to do!
PROGRESS ON GLOBAL YOUTH UNEP has also held a series of Global YOUTH COUNCILS THE RIGHT TRAINING The question is, what sort of
EDUCATION FOR
PARTICIPATION SINCE 1992 Youth meetings. Oxfam helped set Since 1992, the UK has taken some Imagine an Olympic athlete. To training do you need to prepare
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In 1997, the UN began a series of up an International Youth positive steps towards youth prepare for her race, she must you for the challenges of the
(ESD)
Youth conferences with a meeting Parliament in Australia. Peace Child participation. Many towns, In 1996, the UN Commission for follow a rigorous training 21st century? Whatever job
in Vienna. There was a organised the including our small town of Sustainable Development agreed a programme. She needs to be at you do, you will be a
2nd one in Portugal in Millenium Young 23-point Work Programme to peak physical fitness if she wants consumer. You will make
Buntingford, now have a Youth
1999 which produced a People’s Congress achieve Agenda 21’s ESD goals. to do her best in the race. Now, choices and have an
Town Council. Several others have
declaration that was in Hawaii. UNICEF UNESCO, the UN body responsible, imagine that you are an athlete impact on the
them too, and we have an East
presented to a meeting made a concerted has addressed three of the tasks: only it’s not your muscles that environment. Is your
Herts District Youth Council plus a
of Youth Ministers. It was effort to include they have made an excellent you are training, but your education preparing
UK Youth Parliament .
due to be considered by the views of CD-ROM with 25 modules to train mind. This is what your you for this challenge?
the United Nations children and Each had democratic elections in
teachers to teach sustainable academic education should Do you get to learn
General Assembly, but, young people at which young people aged 11-18
development. They started a be about. Preparing you for about sustainable
due to some govern- the Special Session voted. Our mandate is to represent registry of ESD initiatives on the challenges you will face development? Check
ments’ objections, it never was. A on Children in 2002. This was the feelings of UK youth. So the the Internet and created a network in life. Education should be out the syllabuses at
3rd meeting was held in Dakar, perhaps the best success of all as the Buntingford Youth Council has set of Vice Chancellors to introduce about stretching your your school to find
Senegal in August 2002. children participated on a par with up a Cyber Café in town as young ESD at some universities.
mind. As long as you are out if you are getting
Over the last ten years, the number the adult delegation. So what did all people under 18 wanted a place to However, other tasks have not been
challenged by your teach- the right training for
of governments putting young this youth participation achieve? A go to relax. The UK Youth done. The ‘broad alliance’ of
ers and forced to think, the race.
people on their UN delegations has wider recognition that young Parliament made recommendations governments, NGOs and educators
increased slowly. Young people people have excellent ideas. But, you will be training.
to government on several matters - called for in the work programme Ellie Alchin
played a significant role at all the equally, youth are aware that has not been created.
public transport, youth employment, (Geography Teacher)
major UN conferences of the ‘90s. ‘Declarations’ and speeches have Many hope that Johannesburg will
recycling and environmental
limited value. The real value lies call for speedy action to get the rest
in action! Young people all
conservation. So, at last, the UK AGENDA 21
of the Work Programme done. SAYS
AGENDA 21 is taking its young people seriously
around the World are out there There are also calls to give
SAYS actually working towards and including us.
education major group status to • Re-orient education for
sustainable development. Charlotte Cowell, 17, UK give educators a stronger platform sustainable development. 
• Governments should consult and let youth
participate in decisions that affect the environment. Programmes like Be the Change! in the Agenda 21 process. • Make ESD available to people
WHAT YOUTH CAN DO of all ages.
 launched at the MYPC are Young people have always called • Work with the media and the
• Youth representation at international meetings and helping them to do this. Lobby!! Don’t wait patiently for for more ESD in their curricula. It advertising industry to promote
debate on the environment.
participation in decision-making at the UN. your voice to be heard. Get out there and
 has not happened. The reality is, in
raise hell! Hone your arguments until they • Bring indigenous people’s
• By the year 2000, more than 50% of women and cut like a knife then find a way to the right most schools, students have little or experience into ESD. 
men of the right age should be enrolled in person and beat on their door ‘til you get no control over what they are
secondary schools. 
a chance to meet them! taught. CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU
 Black Holes: Gaps in Agenda 21
In Rescue Mission: Planet Earth, the young editors called on young people to “speak out on matters
that governments cannot or dare not talk about.” They identified many black holes – some of which,
68
like energy and eco-tourism, are now being addressed. Like our predecessors, we feel a need to
raise these issues and encourage every one to address them.
DIGITAL DIVIDE
At Rio, the Internet barely existed.
In 10 years, it has become the main
communications artery for NGOs,
individuals and business and a key
aid for education and research.
But not everywhere! In high
income countries, there are 48.8
Internet hosts per 1,000 people; in
middle income, 1.09; in the
poorest, only 0.02. Not really a
‘global’ information highway is it!
ADVERTISING AND MEDIA
The $400 billion a year advertising
industry has a powerful influence
on our lives, urging us to consume
what we do not need. Nothing in
Agenda 21 addresses this problem.
Civil Society Eco-groups with tiny
budgets have very little power to
use against the might of the
advertising industry – and clearly
media companies shy away from
efforts to place advertisements
telling people NOT to buy their
products.
Rights for All!
To promote peace and avoid a chaotic society, we must have a government of individuals who
are accountable to all of us, who are committed to our security and the protection of that fragile
65
69
web of human rights which is the only way to assure everbody’s peace and contentment.
Rocelyn Correa, 17, Philippines
RENEWABLE ENERGY Natural
In the run-up to Rio, oil-exporting Disease Disasters
countries succeeded in limiting
discussions about renewable
energy. There is now much more
recognition of alternative energy
technologies, but this still does not
get explicit commitments from
Desertification
Deforestation
governments – yet!
CORRUPTION
Corruption in bureaucracies is a
huge barrier to sustainable Renewable Energy
development. The UN is now Sources
negotiating a comprehensive
protocol on corruption – but this
is not part of the Agenda 21
process. “Do to others as
Air, Land and you would have done to
MULTINATIONALS you”
Water Pollution War
Mixing countries and companies
together, 40 of the 100 largest “The World today is becoming
earners are companies. General more and more unfair. It’s not
Motors has twice the annual enough to respect other people
income of the whole of Greece. and share equal rights. People
Unbelievable, no?! Nobody has any invented laws to protect us but
control over corporations. A sometimes those laws are
planned chapter in Agenda 21 on abused so nobody can be sure
Consumption
this subject was left out! that they are safe. This problem
can be solved only when every
ANIMAL RIGHTS
human being lives in a fair
Agenda 21 said very little on this Animal Rights
society with enough to meet
subject and there has not been their basic needs and are all
much discussion since. Hunting, taught the absolute basic value
animal testing, vivisection, factory of respect for other people. In
farming and the use of animals Overpopulation that way, nobody would ever
need to do anything against
for entertainment - there are
them. Will that ever be
campaigns all over the world to
possible?
prevent these. We feel it’s an
important part of sustainable
Urska Ivanovic, 16, Slovenia
development. Are we right?
 War & Peace
Agenda 21 was written at the height of the Gulf War. As we write this conflicts are still blazing around the
World. Peace has not broken out, and the peace dividend from the ending of the Cold War is less than we
70 hoped. But we have an International Criminal Court, a treaty on landmines, Milosevic is in court for his war
crimes, East Timor is free at last, and the Taliban is overthrown in Afghanistan. So progress towards peace
has been made since Rio.
WAR’S DESTRUCTION OF THE
ENVIRONMENT
The environment is always an early
casualty of modern warfare. Today,
fighting is not even necessary for
the military to damage the
environment. Preparations for war
are also destructive. The production,
testing and disposal of weapons
pollutes the earth. Military training
destroys the land where it happens
and military activities squander
non-renewable resources. The
radioactive and toxic materials used
by militaries can cause cancer, birth
defects, and other illnesses.
The World’s militaries are poisoning
the environment and thus the
people they were supposed to
protect.
Jessiel Sayco Correa,17, Philippines
GOCE RISTOVSKI,
17, FYR MACEDONIA
CASE STUDY
IRAQ
DID YOU KNOW? Warfare is inherently destruc-
Japan, Russia and the United States tive to development. Nowhere
spent a total of $400.5 billion on shows this better than the
military expenditures in 2001. That’s recent history of Iraq. During
enough to fund the implementation
the Gulf War, tens of thousands
of all Agenda 21’s environmental and
of the best and brightest young
social programs.
people were killed. Many more
fled the country. This was not
SLAVIA just an enormous human
UGO
,Y
17 calamity, it also stripped Iraq of
S,
BA
vital human resources.
TUM
EA
During the Gulf War, the air, soil
ANDR
and water of Iraq were contam-
inated by more than 600,000
pounds of radioactive waste
and 142,000 tonnes of bombs.
Total devastation.
Today food shortages due to UN
sanctions cause untold damage
to an entire generation of Iraqi
children. Hospitals lack basic
medicine and electricity to
refrigerate vaccines. Polio and
diphtheria break out
unchecked. People who lack
food and basic medicines do not
have the luxury of thinking of
sustainable development?
71
MOHAMMED BAKER, 15, JORDAN
DEPLETED URANIUM
When a Depleated Uranium
shell hits steel armour, it
releases small radioactive
particles. These particles can
travel with the wind and be
ingested or inhaled by humans,
often resulting in a “hot spot”
of radioactivity lodged in some
vital organ. Although the US
military knew the grave
danger posed by the use of
LANDMINES - POOR CAMBODIA, LUCKY SIERRA LEONE these weapons years ago, it
The most appalling environmental pollution of our world comes from proceeded with their development
the 110 million landmines hidden in the ground. Removing them is an and use, showing a callous
expensive business. Mines that cost $3 each to make cost up to $1,000 to disregard for its own troops,
remove. In spite of the Nobel-prize winning Landmines campaign which countless civilians and the
resulted in the Ottawa Treaty banning the manufacture and use of land- global environment.
mines, it will still take over $100 billion to clear those laid already. In a This is not the first instance in
country like Cambodia, where 10 million mines were planted during its which militaries have used
long and bloody conflict, adults and children will be being killed and weapons of mass destruction in
maimed for years to come. But lucky Sierra Leone! Though this West such a way that even their own
African country suffered ten years of brutal civil war, international aid troops were guinea pigs; this
experts are saying prayers of thanks for one thing. Neither side laid happened with atomic bombs
mines in this war. Recovery can be that much swifter. and with Agent Orange.
 Show me the Money!
Agenda 21 promised ‘new and additional sources of finance’ to achieve sustainable development. In
fact, the reverse has happened: in 1992, ODA (Overseas Development Aid) was $59 billion; in 1998,
72
it was $52 billion - a drop of 12%. This is the great betrayal of the Agenda 21 process.
THE MONTERREY CONSENSUS
This Consensus was the result of the
Financing for Development Conference
in Monterrey Mexico in March 2002. The
Document starts out well with fine
words like: “Our goal is to eradicate
poverty, achieve sustained economic
growth and promote sustainable
development as we advance to a fully
inclusive and equitable economic
system.”
Then it gets to the nitty-gritty: “We note
with concern current estimates of
dramatic shortfalls in resources
required to achieve internationally
agreed development goals...” - the
Millennium Development Goals. When
you get to the ‘Show me the money’ bits,
there’s nothing. No new ideas, no new
money,.nothing on the key issue of new
ways to raise money except, “We agree
to study the results of the analysis by the
Secretary General...: They agree little
things, but nothing major. As the chart
below shows, the debt repayments rise
and rise and the overseas development
aid falls and falls. Very disappointing.
Bn. Official Development Assistance
120 Interest paid by aid recipients
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
92 93 94 95 96 97 98
NEW WAYS TO RAISE MONEY worth tomorrow? James Tobin contribute to global warming. 7369
Sustainable development demands thought of the tax to make The climate changes they cause will
more money. Governments won’t gambling on currency less attractive. cost us billions in building new sea
INEQUALITIES give it, so we need new ideas: 2. Bit-tax: A tax on e-mails to help walls, new flood defences etc. There
20% of the world’s population consume 1. The Tobin Tax: At Monterrey, all bridge the digital divide. A penny on has to be a tax to raise funds to pay
86% of the wealth. The poorest fifth NGOs called Time for Tobin! This is a for it.
consume only 1.4%. What does that tax of 0.5% on currency speculation Conclusion: A Tobin tax could be
levied tomorrow just by adding a
$/¥
mean? What can we do about it? - the daily trades that bankers do to
little bit of code to a few computers.
David Beckham, the footballer, earns in make money on the fluctuations in
No one would mind because banks
three minutes what it would take to exchange rates. The tax could raise
can afford to pay. But most
give an African child a decent school $150-$300 billion dollars a year - governments will not even consider
lunch every day of the year! If he were more than enough to wipe out it because they are opposed to any
to give up a quarter of his salary, he poverty. But the point of Tobin is to one else collecting taxes. BUT the
could feed 42,000 Africans for a year, calm the currency markets and stop every hundred e-mails over a certain Canadian, French and Belgian
and still have £3,000,000 of his own to the reckless trading. How can you do size would raise billions of dollars. governments are supporting Tobin.
The Tobin Tax Network feels that we
spend! business when you never know 3. Tax on use of global commons: eg.
are on a roll. A Tobin tax could be
What does that mean? That Beckham is what your currency is going to be an airline fuel tax. Airplanes just around the corner.
an awful person?? No! It means that he
is a very good footballer - and his club,
DEBT CRISIS: 3rd World debt kills 13 children in Africa every minute.
Manchester United gives a million-
pounds a year to UNICEF. But how many of us could buy meals for a year What is third world debt? - It is money loaned to less and sent off in disgrace, the debts remained and the
on $34? When you think about it, the gap between us and Beckham is far developed countries by banks and official lenders like banks still demanded interest. If you couldn’t pay, the
the World Bank. Debt forces countries with very small banks lent you money to pay themselves their interest
narrower than the gap between us and the African child. So if more of us
budgets to pay large chunks of it back to banks in and added the new loan to the total. Thus third world
normal people took responsibility for helping African children, perhaps we
more developed countries instead of using it for clean debt spiralled upwards. CRAZY!
would attract more people like David Beckham to contribute more?
water, education, health, and other human needs.
Charlotte Potter-Landua, 13, Switzerland
What is Jubilee 2000? - Jubilee 2000 is a network of
Where did the debt come from? - Back in the over 100 organisations working in over
AGENDA 21
SAYS ‘70s, rich countries lent money to help 65 countries to draw attention to
less developed countries to build new this madness and get governments
• New and additional sources of funding to raise $141.9 bn cost of roads and government buildings. It to drop the debt.
Agenda 21. 
was usually big, flashy projects not
• More developed countries commit to reach the UN target of donating
0.7% of GNP in overseas development aid. small clinics and schools that would What you can do. Join Jubilee
• Help low-income countries deal with the problem of unpayable foreign really help the poorest people! 2000! Spread awareness about
debt. $10 billion of foreign debt has been cancelled. 0.5% of
total. Often, loans were taken out by how third world debt kills people.
• Funds should be raised by re-allocating resources now committed for dictators to buy military equipment or Lobby governments to drop the debt.
military purposes.
big cars for their friends. When they were overthrown
99

Taking Control
If you were in an airplane, plunging towards the earth, you would want a pilot of great experience to take
control. You would not want a committee of individuals, each with different interests and ideas, arguing
74
over what steps to take. With humanity on an unsustainable course towards self-destruction on a fragile
planet, it is extremely important that some one – any one! – take control. But Who?
GRZEGORZ KRÓL, 17, HUNGARY
HUMAN AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Children have no place in armies - but in
Southern Sudan, 10,000 children aged 8 to
18 have been kidnapped and forced to serve
in the Lord’s Resistance Army. On the battle-
field, girls and boys are treated the same -
both have to advance firing on the enemy. If
they do not run firing their guns at the
enemy (the army), they are shot in the back
by their commanders. Either way they get
killed in their thousands.
Tues. 27th Feb. 2001: UNICEF takes control.
UNICEF Director, Carol Bellamy negotiates
with the commanders to airlift 2,500 child
soldiers out of the conflict zone and take
them to transit camps to try and trace their
families. “The first priority is to get these
children to a place of safety,” says Dr Sapra
of UNICEF. “Our ultimate goal is to com-
pletely end the use of children as soldiers in
Sudan. There are still thousands of child
combatants in various armed groups here,
but we have shown can be done with strong
advocacy and follow-through.
Ahmed Abbas, 13, Sudan
"All our work for development and peace has taught us that if the issue of governance
is neglected, we are building on sand. No amount of aid, no degree of diplomacy can
produce lasting progress if it is not rooted in legitimate, rule-bound institutions -
responsive and accountable to the people."
75
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General United Nations
17, ARG
ENTINA
HL
,
A
O
R
ND
ENVRONMENT
LEA
ANON, RUSSIA
It amazes me how little governments do for the environment
– and how much they do to harm it through tax breaks
and perverse subsidies to big companies like those in
nuclear and auto industries that pollute it.
Governments need to take charge and the first thing they
must do is give everyone knowledge about what’s going
wrong and what they can do about it – like turning their
computer off, recycling batteries, using bicycles instead
of cars. WAR
Governments must research ways to power cars and trucks In 1947, the UN divided Palestine into two states. The
in ways that do not damage the environment, like by using day after Israel’s independence, 7 Arab states attacked
fuel cells or solar power. They must phase out industries that Israel but after a 19 month war were defeated. More
damage the environment. POVERTY wars followed; a peace process started but collapsed
When people break environmental laws, rather than fining In a fair world, we must eradicate poverty. But it is in violence. The only way to solve the problem is to
them or throwing them in prison, they should make them very complicated: giving free food does not help listen to one another, communicate honestly and find
work for a day in the forests or the mountains so that they local farmers to sell their’s and make a living. Giving a compromise. A stronger UN police force that could
can see and feel just how precious is the environment that aid conditional on good government behaviour, root out the murderers and suicide bombers and
we are abusing. though it sounds sensible, often ends up hurting the prosecute them like ordinary criminals could help. The
Cara Peterson, 13, USA poorest people. Many things could be done by a well ‘blame game’ does not work. I hope that peace will
organised global welfare system that ensures that come soon.
there is: Assaf Levin, 13, Israel
• free primary education for all
• free primary healthcare for all
• free reproductive health care and pre-natal health
care for all women
• compulsory HIV/AIDS counselling for all
• free condoms on demand
• free safe drinking water for all
• protection of everyone’s human rights; any officials
that abuse them will be prosecuted
• Encourage individual enterprises - give micro-credit
start-up loans with proper training and mentoring
Y U G O SL AV I A
for all recipients
• Drop the foreign debt of all highly indebted poor
countries (HIPCs);
7,
1
• Create fair trading conditions that open all markets S,
M
BA
to producers from the world’s least developed countries. TU
SUCHITRA SRINIVASAN, 14, INDIA E A
DR
AN
 77
Section 4

The Road
Ahead

JOHANNESBURG YOUTH MANIFESTO 78

TA K I N G A C T I O N : T H E W I N D S O F C H A N G E 80

G O O N . . . W H AT ’ S S T O P P I N G Y O U ? 82

IN OUR OPINION 84

THE ROAD AHEAD 86

u r e
F ut

ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND


Johannesburg Youth Manifesto
Youth are very clear about the road ahead: priorities emerging from major global youth meetings of the
last 20 years are remarkably similar. Here is a summary of the main elements of the UN Youth
74
78 Statement to the WSSD and the Action Plans of the major Youth WSSD Prepcoms in Honolulu, Hawaii
(MYPC), Borgholm, Sweden, Aarhus, Denmark (Global Youth Forum) and Dakar, Senegal (World Youth Forum).
EDUCATION
Free Primary Education For All, of course, + secondary
education for as many as possible. Education for
sustainable development for all too and support working children
with grants to ensure that they do not lose out by going to school.
PEACE
Peace education, eliminate the arms
trade and immediate nuclear disarmament.
ENVIRONMENT
The agreements exist - governments just have
to ratify and implement them: Kyoto, Basel, PICs,
POPs, Biodiversity, CITES, Desertification, Forest Principles
Implement them! End production and research into GMOs
Strengthen eco-governance to enforce sustainability.
Don’t build any more nuclear reactors.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Promote global justice through
non-violent peace-building, strengthening
democracy and human rights all over the world.
Eliminate xenophobia, sexism, racism, homophobia,
gender bias and all forms of discrimination.
HEALTH & HIV/AIDS
Ensure anti-retroviral drugs are available, including through
compulsory licensing, to all diagnosed with HIV/AIDS no matter
where they live. Ensure young people have access to information that
allows them to make informed choices about substance misuse.
“We, as youth, see the oppressive role of privileged, over-developed nations, the unequal playing field in
international relations and the transfer of power from governments to trans-national corporations. Many of us live
with poverty and AIDS, others live in countries with unsustainable consumption patterns. We call for a new ethical
framework for sustainable development in accordance with regional priorities. We commit ourselves to demanding
that current declarations are implemented. “ Borgholm (2001) & Aarhus (2002)
YOUTH AND CONSUMPTION 79
Polish up the Planet, BY Youth must take the lead in living and promoting sustainable
ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND consumption and life-styles. Governments must institute green
taxes and have public awareness campaigns to promote eco-efficiency,
limit over consumption and put limits on corporate advertising pollution
in puclic places. All companies to pursue cleaner production methods.
POVERTY
The road ahead must lead to the complete elimination
of poverty in our lifetimes. Trade laws must favour
least-developed countries; a Tobin tax must be adopted to raise
funds and micro finance programmes must be promoted, also in
rural areas along with entrepreneurial training to employ youth.
POPULATION
While respecting cultural diversity
all people, especially adolescents,
must have access to high quality, user-friendly,
reproductive health services.
EMPLOYMENT
66 million unemployed youth with 500
million new jobs needed in the next ten
years - this is a big challenge! We applaud the UN’s
Youth Employment Network and the Youth
Employment Summit process but we need more
entrepreneurship training, more apprenticeships,
more mentoring programmes and a bridging of
the digital divide to enable more youth to benefit
from IT. Under-employment must also be addressed.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMICS
All Overseas Development Aid must be targeted towards alleviating extreme poverty
through ensuring that the 20:20 compact is met. This would mean restructuring government
priorities to ensure education, health care and poverty alleviation is made possible. We call for the
immediate cancellation of LDC debt and a total commitment to achieving the MDGs.
 ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND
PROTEST and SURVIVE!
The Winds of Change Protest is the simplest and
most natural action to take
In Rio, all participants called for Action not just more statements. It made a priority of “Type Two” when eco-madness grips a
outcomes - partnerships that lead to action. Young people have been leaders in action for company or local authority.
76
80 There are several types: 77
81
sustainable development since Rio, both individually and with partners.
• Physical: climb the tree
under threat, occupy the
threatened land, dig tunnels
SAVE THE INDIAN TIGERS! under the threatened area -
like Swampy and his
Jenny Osgood, a 16-year-old girl from Britain, was think that I was being a little over-optimistic but eco-warriors in the UK.
shocked to hear there were only 7000 tigers left ten weeks later, the 7000 signatures in my hand • Demonstrate: Carry your
on Earth. She organized a petition to be sent to proved him wrong. protest to the street. Sit down
the prime minister of India to help save ... Just doing something, however small outside the offices of the BUTTERFLY WOMAN, USA
the tigers. Her goal was to collect 7000 it may be, is a thousand times better offender and hand out
signatures. She traveled to India to than doing nothing. Now, at least leaflets explaining your point Julia “Butterfly” Hill was 21
deliver the signatures to the prime the government of India knows of view to every one who years old when she scrambled
minister in person! that 7000 people in England care.” enters or leaves their offices. to the top of a threatened
Jenny said: “My father seemed to ,U
K • Letter-writing: Amnesty has Redwood tree in December
saved lives and won freedom 1997. She was 23 when she
11

for many by writing to finally came down, 738 days

,
ON

ILS
W
BE
TH governments. Global Alert later.
THE LEGACY OF IQBAL MASIH! does similar campains for the The Pacific Lumber Company
Iqbal Masih was sold into child labour at the age of four for an environment. planned to cut down a whole
advance of less than $16. For six years, he worked, chained to a • Other: There are no limits area of Redwoods around her
carpet loom, tying small knots 12 hours a day earning practically to the types of protest and tree. As a result of Julia’s
no money. His debt to his boss rose to $149. Iqbal got out. He
became a leader against child slavery in Pakistan and, during the campaigns except your imagi- protest, the company agreed
last 2 years of his life, helped free hundreds of child slaves. He nation. Backwards marches, to save the area and give
was given a Reebok award for his efforts and, whilst in the USA slow cycle rides (critical mass), $50,000 to a university for
receiving it, visited the Broad Meadows School. Students there vigils, door-to-door signature research. Julia also persuaded
agreed to help him in his efforts to set up schools and new
opportunities for ex-child slaves. collections, poster campaigns, them to sign a UNA deed and
Five months later, Iqbal was dead - shot on his bicycle by persons leafletting, stunts! Anything! covenant to protect the tree.
unknown. In his short life, he had become one of the mightiest Julia joins a long list of
voices speaking out against child slavery. Young people across the eco-warriers, from the Chipkos
world were inspired by his memory. Broad Meadows students
started a Kids Campaign for a “School for Iqbal”. They raised an 400 years ago right up to the
amazing $147,000 for a school which opened in 1998. Craig present, who are prepared to
Kielburger read his story while flicking through a newstand for a put their bodies and their lives
comic. He was so moved, he started “Free The Children” which on the line to save the
has become one of the largest and most effective youth-led
movements in the world - with over 100,000 members, big environment.
budgets, action campaigns and many awards for Craig and his Stephanie Wilks, 23, USA.
colleages.
IQBAL MASIH

Go On... What’s Stopping You?
It is not just young people who are taking action. Since Rio, it seems to us that there has been a
vast increase in the number of activities that draw our attention to the need for sustainable
82 development. The momentum is building. Now you have no excuse...
Otpor! Resistance!: The clenched fist: Otpor helps young Yugoslavian
people express their thoughts on the government, good or bad. We
helped to mobilise young people across the country to change the
Milosevic government. We believe that every person should be invested to
bring about change.
Csilla varga, 18, Yugoslavia
DAVID PEDRUEZA DIAZ, 24, SPAIN
Eden Project: A global garden for the 21st century. Built in an
abandoned china clay quarry, these vast conservatories house lush rain
forests and dry mediterranean landscapes. A successful visitor
attraction (over a million visitors in two years!), it is also a key
educational resource and a powerful glorification of our natural
world. Eden takes a fresh look at our world and our place in it.
L’Escolinha: « The little school in a happy corner » is our school in
the heart of a slum in Recife, Brazil. Created 10 years ago, it has never
ceased to grow and improve. Local people built the school in partnership
with the children who have now brought it to life. It is designed to take
children off the street and give them a basic education. Some students have
gone on to join mainstream public schools. The Escolinha project respects,
and is respected by, the community who are so proud to have this
wonderful school in the happy corner.
Marie Ballester and Lucie Chambezron, 16, France
Blooming Colibri: As a street child in Peru the thing that Karla Tello could never get used to was being dirty
the whole time. Escaping the streets through becoming a batik artist, she has now gone back to help her friends
who remain on the streets by building a walk-in centre where they can find soap, showers and food. The artists
cooperative to which she belongs also gives the children training in Batik making.
by Carolina Rengifo, Peru
The Duang Prateep Foundation: For many years the slums of Bangkok have been shacks, without
clean water, play space for children or schools. At the age of 12, Prateep Ungsongtham decided
she’d had enough of this life style. She worked 24 hours a day to get her education and earn
money. Finally, she set up her school with the little money she had earned. Soon, through grants,
it became a foundation and now has hundreds of students. The dream of one young girl has made
a big change in a Bangkok slum. Pauline Yeung, 19, Hong Kong 83
Clean up the streets / clean up your mind: Lansana Koroma
runs an unusual drug rehabilitation programme. He gets drug
addicts who are determined to kick the habit to clean up the
choked sewers, gutters and drains of his community in the slums
of Freetown, Sierra Leone. People dismissed the idea when he
proposed it, but it really works! The young people take pride in
their cleaned-up community: it helps them find strength to
keep off drugs in the future .
The Edhi Foundation: For 8 years, from the age of 11, Abdul
Sattar Edhi had to care for his sick and dying mother. The experience
inspired him to create clinics, free medical dispensaries, hospitals and
ambulance services to give those in need access to medical care. His
youth and vigour in partnership with visionary medical staff has made
this Foundation the largest of its kind in Pakistan with over 543 health
facilities throughout the country.
Global Youth Service Day: This is a global project, designed to
highlight ways that young people can improve their communities 365
days a year and recruit the next generation of volunteers. It has been
running for 3 years and happens each year in April. Started in the USA,
it has grown each year and now operates in well over 100 countries.
Jenna Troup, 13, USA
Hand in Hand with Tanzania: This project was started in 1994 to enable students at the International School
of Geneva get involved in helping their peers in Northern Tanzania. Students who work on the project raise money
and travel to Tanzania and work with the local Tanzanian group to build extra classrooms or libraries for the local
school. Sometimes they build shops or workshops to provide jobs for the growing population of Tanzania. The
project is entirely student-led with advice and guidance from teachers in Switzerland and Tanzania.
Philippe Polman, 17. Netherlands
 In Our Opinion
We asked young people worldwide why they felt sustainable development is
important to their lives, to their future. Some sent statements, some sent poems,
80
84
some sent things they had heard others say. Conclusion: Young people DO care!
“There are 10 Afghanistans waiting to
happen in Africa. It is not a matter of
compassion, its financial. It is cheaper by
a factor of 100 to prevent the fires from
happening than to put them out once they
have started. 70% of the HIV/ AIDS
problem is in Africa. We’re talking about
a continent bursting into flames and we
stand around with watering cans.”
Bono, U2
“Sustainable development can
simply be said to mean securing our
future. This can only be achieved
when our leaders stand up to their
responsibilities.”
Sola Folorunso, 19, Nigeria
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Adult
You were once just like me,
I do not wish to thank you
Or even to be kind,
Because you just won’t let me be
“This book is just a very 85
You’re blinded by what you think
short summary of the mistakes we
Are your rights over me.
have made. With it we’re trying to
Why can’t you see?
“My friends don’t care about nature. show young people that change is
I do not like you, but fear you
they only care about football. In school needed to make the world a better
Your words hold me like a cage,
they don’t get enough information about place.”
I will never be free.
Csilla Varga, 18, Yugoslavia
sustainable development, and nobody Look into my eyes
sets them an example.” You were once just like me.
Katie Paroschy, 15, Canada
Jukka Lehtovaara, 14, Finland
“Don’t blame other for the “We are not anymore
loss of the forests. Think instead interested in being called
“It took Britain half the
what you can do yourself to help the nation of tomorrow, we
resources of the planet to
save them.” are the nation of TODAY!
achieve its prosperity. How
Amadeo Dayto Jr., 16, Philippines This book reflects young
many planets will a country
people’s creativity, courage
like India require...?”
and experience from around Mahatma Gandhi
the world.”
“This book is filled with the voices and spirit Bonus Caesar, 19, Tanzania
of young people from around the world. It has
been designed not just to draw your attention to
the problems we are facing, but to challenge you
to find solutions, and inspire you to go out and
implement them!”
“The world is great and fantastic and we must look after it.”
Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa
Mary Hughes, 8, UK
 ?
The Road Ahead
86
82
we are now at a crossroads. It gives us a chance to choose our future, carry straight
on as we are now, or do a sharp left turn and head for a more sustainable World. Sustainability 87
Experts give us several alternative futures. Now is time to decide which way we are
heading?

MIGHT-IS-RIGHT FUTURE and, using every means at their

After September 11th and the wave
of suicide bombings that we are
seeing in the Middle East, another
scenario occurs to us. Fictionalised
FREE MARKET FUTURE
disposal, take revenge on the rich
This scenario assumes that things
countries. They march on them,
stay just about the same, with
attack their cities, infect their water
everyone trusting the free market
supplies, drench them in infectious

DASHA STENKOVAIA, 15, RUSSIA

in a BBC film called, “The March”, it
tells of a future in which divisions
between rich and poor become so
great, in desperation, the poor of
the world take over their countries
battle tanks and fighter planes
SECURITY FIRST FUTURE
This is described as the “Gated
Community” approach. As
environmental dangers and
social inequalities increase the
rich sectors of the global
community shut themselves
off, keeping out the poorer
elements, by force if necesssary.
After a period of ‘muddling
through’ interest in issues like
sustainability give way to
instincts of self preservation
and comfort. Concerns for civil
conflict and violence in distant
regions of the world recede as
do wars about water, oil and
other resources. A supply of
resources is guaranteed by
large military installations.
Private sector interests become
vastly more powerful and
corruption increases.
to lead the necessary reactions
diseases - eboli, smallpox etc. In this
environmental problems. It allows
scenario, rich countries would be
more people to work from home -
brought to their knees and forced
so energy costs are reduced.
to negotiate a sustainable future. It
Eco-efficiency is profitable so
could come to that.
factor four technologies flourish.
Innovations continue but these
tend to favour the rich countries -
so poorer countries are left behind
and economically colonised. Water
shortages are seen as a market
opportunity and tankers full of the
stuff fill the oceans. Markets do
stimulate efficient responses to
new situations - but environmental
concerns and thoughts of future
generations come very low on the
list of market priorities.
ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLNAD
NATURE’S TAKE-OVER If the Atlantic Gulf Stream
Another scenario is total ‘natural changed direction, which is likely to
disaster’. If steps are not taken soon, occur if ice caps melt, this could
global warming could melt the ice bring an ice age to Northern
caps and the glaciers; 100-250 million Europe. Climates across the entire
people living in coastal regions could world would change causing food
become environmental refugees; shortages, relocation of entire
entire cities would be forced to populations and stresses and strains
relocate to higher ground placing on the social structure of the planet.
tolerable strain on economies. With luck, this would force a peaceful
Another possibility is ocean flip-flop transition to a sustainable future.
the reversal of major ocean currents.
POLICY LED FUTURE
This can be characterised as the top-down
regulation, centrally planned approach. It
includes strengthening treaty organisations
for climate change, conservation, water
etc., the growth of regional groupings -
the European Union, Mercosur, NAFTA
and a newly formed African Union. The
United Nations would become stronger
and the World Bank would exert greater
control on economies. In all this national
governments would take a firmer grasp
on policy and would co-operate with
centralised business, labour organisations,
and NGOs. The World Trade Organisation,
so despised by anti-capitalist demonstrators,
becomes more responsive to the needs of
the South and many good things come-
from strong policy leadership being
established at every level of government.
SUSTAINABILITY FUTURE
So what is the sustainability
future which we, and many other
groups advocate? Its essence is
inclusion, consensus-building and
collaboration amongst all sectors
of society. It assumes that all
people have a heavy chunk of
altruism hard-wired into their
bodies at birth and that we all
basically want the best for each
other and future generations. So
from families and grass roots
communities, right on up to
international level, the culture of
sustainability becomes ingrained
in our every action. Local groups
become more active, businesses
become more visionary in their
pursuit of sustainability and all
become much, much better
informed about the state of our
world. Changes in lifestyles take
place slowly, often imperceptibly,
as the values of simplicity,
cooperation and community
displace those of competition,
consumerism and individualism.
The emphasis on stewardship of
natural resources is strengthened,
of forests, fisheries and many
other resources. New, eco-efficient
technologies are welcomed and
introduced as rapidly as they
arrive on the drawing boards.
Their inventors become household
names. Restrictions on technology
transfer crumble as the rich world
hurries to share its technology
with poorer parts to give them
equal access to global comforts.
The nature of leadership
changes: it is driven by the power
and the vision of grassroots
individuals and organisations,
supported strongly at the highest
level. The journey to sustainability
is a long one, but we shall be
well on the way by 2032 if we
start now.
 89
Section 5

Reference
Section

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N . . . 90

CONTRIBUTORS LIST 92

AFTERWORD 93

G L O S S A RY 94

INDEX 95

PEACE CHILD & BE THE CHANGE! 96

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

 www.populationconcern.org.uk ***** ‘Working for the Right to ESD: LEARNING TO SURVIVE 67
Reproductive Health Care Worldwide’ www.educationindex.com/ **** Info on eco-teaching.
www.populationconnection.org/ **** Useful info on population www.nc.uk.net/esd **** great UK site for ESD info.

For More Information ... + a pleasant and easily usable interface.

www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm **** Official UN pop site
www.youthcoalition.org ***** A youth perspective on pop.
www.learn.co.uk/*** resources by teachers for teachers

BLACK HOLES 68
www.digitaldividenetwork.org/ ** portal to info on IT divide
You can find everything on the web! - and it’s true: all the issues we have written about EXPELLING POVERTY! 46 www.adage.com/datacenter.cms**** intro to advertising!
have got websites that go deeper. Many of them are absolutely brilliant (4-5 stars!) www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd.htm **** more on Copenhagen www.caddet-re.org **** great renewable energy portal
90 www.oxfam.org ***International website of OXFAM, full of www.transparency.org/** all you’d ever want on corruption 91
making research fun and really interesting! We lay them out by chapter... information on the causes of poverty and possible solutions multinationalmonitor.org/ *** info on multinationals
www.cpag.org.uk ****Looking at childhood poverty in UK www.vrg.org/nutshell/animalrights.htm*** pro-rights group
IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE 10 www.foresttrust.org/ ** US site on sustainable forestry www.worldbank.org/mp/ *** The site is an essential site when www.animalrights.net/ ** interesting anti-animal rights stuff
www.un.org/millennium/sg/report *** Read the full report by researching international aid and development.
Kofi Annan, where the village of 100 people comes from. OCEANS: WAVES OF CHANGE 26 HUMAN RIGHTS 69
www.msc.org **** Marine Stewardship Council: excellent. HEALTH: DOCTOR, WHERE? 48 www.freethechildren.org**** Brilliant site for youth action
www.panda.org/endangeredseas *** Info. on WWF’s work to www.who.int **** The World Health Organisation. Good! www.hrw.org *** Excellent global Human Rights site;
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK 12
ensure sustainable fishing and keep the oceans clean. www.unicef.org/crc/crc ****An in depth look at UN CRC
www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/default.htm *****- a fun and
www.whoi.edu **** Woods Hole oceanographic institute AIDS: NO LONGER THE SILENT KILLER 50 www.amnesty.org *** World’s most famous Human Rts org.
scary site. The questionnaire asks how often you fly, eat meat,
www.unaids.org _ The UN’s response to HIV/AIDS
travel by car etc. Then it asks what % of earth’s resources should
WATER: DRINK FOR YOUR HEALTH 28 www.unicef.org/aids/intro.html AIDS impact on children. WAR & PEACE 70
be go to non-humans. It deducts that from your total, then tells
www.iawq.org.uk *** Intl. Water Association site. www.actionaid.org/ourpriorities/hiv/hiv.shtml **** An in-depth www.caat.org **Campaign Against the Arms Trade
you how many planets we’d needed for everyone in the world to
www.wateraid.org.uk **** Beautiful design; great info! site campaigning for better HIV/AIDS strategies www.hrw.org/wr2k1/special/landmines.html** good intro
live your lifestyle.[We needed 11!]
www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/noaatv/esdim/eis/noaatvstop25.html www.iacenter.org/iraqchallenge/*** iraq & sanctions
www.ciesin.org **** Columbia University Earth Science Site -
*** A useful source for statistics and graphs. WOMEN ROCK 54
good for studies on the environment, and facts.
www.drought.noaa.gov/ *** Complicated but informative; www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/ ***** Great UN site! SHOW ME THE MONEY 72
www.greenpeace.org **** Good design; plenty of resources
www.nsc.org/ehc/ew/disaster/floods.htm *** Basic -useful www.undp.org/unifem/ *** UN site on rights for women. www.un.org/esa/ffd/ ***The Monterrey Conference website
www.foei.org **** Loads of information on campaigns etc.
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw **** Up to date www.tobintax.org.uk **News on Tobin tax campaign
MOUNTAINS ARE FOREVER 30 information on women’s rights and a nice clean layout.
SO WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? 14
www.alpaction.com **Information on Alp’s and campaigns; www.whrnet.org/home.htm **** Womens Human Rights TAKING CONTROL 74
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd.htm **** Essential information
www.mountains2002.org **** UN Year of Mountains site http://www.earthsummit2002.org/es/issues/Governance/gover-
about sustainable development policies at the UN
SCIENCE: VIRTUAL ADVANCE 56 nance.htm *** Detailed info & links on gov. issues
www.iisd.org/ ***** International Institute for Sustainable
DESERTS: SHIFTING SANDS 31 www.unepie.org/ **** UNEP’s Technology site - great info!
Development. Layout is great on this comprehensive site.
www.unccd.int * UN Convention to Combat Desertification www.idn.org/ ** big susdev portal with science news items JOHANNESBURG YOUTH MANIFESTO 78
http://www.wcmc.org.uk/dynamic/desert ** Deserts Info. www.globalissues.org/EnvIssues/GEFood.asp *Info on GM food www.un.org/youth*** Link to the UN Youth Unit & Forum
THE SUMMITS 16
www.fao.org/desertification **** Excellent comprehensive site www.unep.org/children_youth** UNEP’s Youth Info. site
www.unicef.org/wsc** The World Summit on Children(WSC)
on impact desertification will have on food production. GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS 58
www.unicef.org/specialsession**** WSC + 10
www.wbcsd.org *** World Business Council for Sustainable TAKING ACTION 80
www.crin.org/specialsdession **** General info on WSC
BIODIVERSITY: NATURE’S EXTENDED FAMILY 32 Development. The business approach to sus. dev. www.gysd.org **** global youth service day site
www.un.org/esa/susdev*** The Rio Earth Summit
www.biodiv.org ***** Convention on biological diversity. www.unglobalcompact.org *** UN’s compact with business www.earthaction.org ***great action site for concerned kids
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/agenda21 *** Rio Agenda 21
www.unep-wcmc.org/ **** Site for endangered species www.benjerry.com/ - fun site of good-hearted company
www.igc.org/habitat/undocs/vienna.html ***Vienna H. Rts.
www.icftu.org ** International Trade Union org. website THE ROAD AHEAD 86
www.unhchr.ch/html/vdparev.htm ** Vienna + Five
LAND: CULTIVATING OUR FUTURE 34 www.unep/GEO/index.htm*** detail on alternative futures
www.unfpa.org/icpd/background.htm** Cairo Pop. Conf.
www.fao.org **** UN Food & Agriculture Organization. OK. NGOs: NON-GOVERNMENTAL OVERDRIVE 60
www.unfpa.org/icpd.htm*** Cairo + 5
www.wri.org ***** World Resource Institute. GREAT site!! www.stakeholderforum.org Information on Susdev NGOs PEACE CHILD & BE THE CHANGE! 96
www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd.htm** Copenhagen
www.purefood.org/ *** the organic food promotion site www.peacechild.org*** all the info. about PCI stuff
www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssdy2k0.htm** Copenhagen + 5
FARMERS: ENDANGERED SPECIES? 61 www.bethechange.info **** 100s of youth-led dev. projects
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform *** Beijing
CITY OF DREAMS 36 www.ifap.org ** Website of farmers of the world
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/news/review.htm*** Beij+ 5
www.unchs.org ***UN’s excellent Habitat Website GENERAL & REGIONAL SITES
www.unhabitat.org/nabitat2/index.htm*** Istanbul
www.dismantle.org/curitiba.htm*** famous Curitiba story INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT 62 www.africanews.org **** Up-to-date Africa issues.
www.omphalos.net/files/rituals/NEWDAY.TXT * eco-Sabbath www.arab.net **** Arab perspectives on major issues
MILLENNIUM SUMMIT 18
CONSUMPTION: IN ONE END... 38 www.wcrp.org **World conference on religion and peace; europa.eu.int/index_en.htm ** European Union online.
www.un.org/millennium **** Main UN site on it;
www.neweconomics.org **** This site has a wonderful design www.nativeweb.org/ *** premier Indig. People’s site www.oneworld.net **** excellent social NGO entry portal
www.undp.org/mdg/ *** Site for progress on the MDGs
and takes a different, practical view of consumption. www.itpcentre.org/ *** excellent Indig. People’s portal www.envirolink.org***great youth entry site for eco-action!
www.ethicalconsumer.org **** how to consume ethically www.takingitglobal**** an IT leader for youth action
ATMOSPHERE: TAKE A DEEP BREATH 22
www.fairtrade.org.uk/*** consume with producers in mind SUSTAINABILITY BEGINS AT HOME 64 www.iearn.org **** briliant teacher support site
www.unfccc.int **** UN Climate Change Convention site.
http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/youth/youthxchange.htm *** www.iclei.org *** site of group behind Local Agenda 21s www.undp.org *** UN’s Development Site; Capacity 2015;
www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/arichome.html**** Best site on this
UNEP/UNESCO prog. on Youth Sustainable Consumption www.iula.org/ **International Union of Local Authorities www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/index.html*** intro to UN
solstice.crest.org/ ***** Renewable Energy Policy Info.
www.edenproject.com/**intro to UK’s big indoor eco-jungle
www.greenpeace.org/~climate/ **** Greenpeace campaigns
... AND OUT THE OTHER: WASTE 40 YOUTH: PARTICIPATE! 66 www.pluggingintothesun.org.uk/plugsun/link.htm ****
www.toowarm.org/ **** Accessible info on global warming.
www.wastedisposal.com/ - global waste disposal stories www.yesworld.org **** Youth for environmental Sanity.
www.wastewatch.org.uk ** Good info on recycling & waste www.igc.apc.org/cgv **** Centre for Environmental Citizens
FORESTS: ROOTS OF LIFE 24
www.caa.org.au/iyp **** Intl. Youth Parl. website. Great!
www.fscoax.org *** Forestry Stewardship Council; V. Good;
www.saveordelete.com **** Greenpeace forest campaign POPULATION: GETTING CROWDED! 42

Contributors Lists
92 Argentina:
• Maria Florencia Becerra, La Plata
• Jovenes Sin Fronteras, Lujan
• Peace Child Argentina, Buenos Aires
• Peace Child Jujuy, Jujuy
• Vanesa Pressel, Paraná
Australia:
• Neeola School, New South Wales
Belarus:
• YESDC, Minsk
• International Friendship Club, School 10,
Gomel
Benin:
• Etincelle, Cellule Universitaire de la Jeune
Chambre du Bénin, Cotonou
• Vision for the Future, Cotonou
Botswana:
• Westwood International School,
Gaborone
Cameroon:
• Girls and Their Environment, Batouri
• Habitat Group, Limbe
• Lycee Technique de Dschang, Dschang
• Nouvelle Afrique, Douala
Canada:
• Full Circle Cooperative School, Prince
Edward Island
• Huntsville High School, Ontario
• Rescue Mission Canada, Ontario
Chad:
• Jeunesse Sans Frontiére, N’djamena
Cuba:
• Environmental King, Universidad de
Matanzas, Matanzas
Czech Republic:
• Club of Ecological Education, Olomouc
• University Palacky (faculties of Law and
Pedagogy), Olomouc
• Gymnasium Cesky tesin, Olomouc
• Primary School Halkova, Olomouc
• Primary School, Litovel, Olomouc
• Primary School Sromotova Hranice,
Olomouc
• Primary School Sv. Kopecek, Olomouc
• Primary School Zeyerova, Olomouc
• Slovanske Gymnasium, Olomouc
• UNESCO Club Olomouc, Olomouc
Democratic Republic of Congo:
• ADDE, Kinshasa
Egypt:
• LCHR, Cairo
Ethiopia:
• Fiche Secondary School UNESCO Club,
North Shewa
Finland:
• Puolalanmäki Secondary School, Turku
FYR Macedonia:
• Children’s Embassy, Skopje
• Kozuli, DSEMU Gorgi Naumov, Bitola
Ghana:
• Ashanti Goldfields School, Obuasi
• Ash Town Youth Club, Accra
• George Barimah, Kumasi
• Church of the Pentecost Youth Ministry,
Kumasi
• Friends of Tree Plantations, Offinso-Ash
• International Youth Ghana, Offinso-Ash
• Presbytarian Boys Secondary School,
Legon
• Rescue Mission Ghana, Accra
• Societal Youth Builders, Accra
• St Andrews School, Legon
• Youth Club for Nature Conservation, Cape
Coast
Hong Kong, China:
• Pauline Yeung, Kowloon
India:
• Anupama Sekhar, Chennai
• Mihir Chatterjee, Jaipur
• MUSKAAN, Jaipur
• Peace Child India, Bangalore
Iran:
• Green Front of Iran, Tehran
Italy:
• Artemisia Gentileschi, Milan
Kenya:
• DEEBS, Nairobi
• John Onyango, Nairobi,
• Youth in Focus Foundation, Nairobi
Lebanon:
• Youth Green Project, Ballouneh
Liberia:
• Children’s Welfare Foundation, Monrovia
Lithuania:
• Kalnieciai Secondary Friends Group,
Kaunas
Madagascar:
• Club UNESCO du College d’Antanetibe-
Antehiroka
Malawi:
• BTC – YEC, Lilongwe
Morocco:
• Association CHOÄLA, Bouznika
• Moroccan Youth Forum for the 3rd
Millennium, Bouznika
Nepal:
• Budhanikantha School, Kathmandu
• ECO-Nepal, Kathmandu
• World United Nations Student and Youth
Organisation, Kathmandu
Nicaragua:
• Club de Jovenes Ambientalistas, Managua
Niger:
• Association des Jeunes Pour un
Environnement Durable, Keita
Nigeria:
• Association of Nigerian Tourist Youth,
Kogi State
• Ebonite Foundation, Enugu
• Green Nation Monitoring Group, Rivers
State
• International Centre for Environment
Child Education Network, Enugu
• Peace Child Nigeria, Port Harcourt
• YIELD, Imo StateYouth Action Project,
Ijebu-Ode
• Youth Emancipation and Support, Lagos
Norway:
• International School of Stavanger,
Stavanger
Paraguay:
• Casa de la Juventud, Asuncion
Peru:
• Mision Rescate Planeta Tierra Peru, Lima
• United Games Peru, Cajamarca
• VIDA, Ica, Lima & Ucayali
Philippines:
• Young Peace Society, Sorsogon
Poland:
• CK Norwid School, Czestockowa
EKOLA, Wroclaw
Russia:
• Peace Child Krasnoyarsk, Zheleznogrsk
Senegal: Spain: • Programme de Soutien Jeune, Lomé
• Banlieusard, Pikine • American School of Barcelona, Barcelona
• Book Diom, Dakar Uganda:
• Convention des Jeunes pour l’Afrique, Sri Lanka: • National Association of Professional
Thiaroye • Sri Lanka Interactive Media Group, Environmentalists, Kampala
• Cosapere, Dakar • Colombo • Rescue Mission Uganda, Kampala
• Internationale Culturelle de la Jeunesse, • Intereractive Children’s Movement, • SPW Uganda, Tororo
Dakar Kelaniya
Ukraine:
Sierra Leone: Switzerland: • All Together, Odessa 89
• Peace Child Sierra Leone, Freetown • Ecole Moser, Chêne-Bougeries
93
• SERUP, Freetown • International School of Geneva United Kingdom:
• Hertfordshire County Council
Slovak Republic: Tanzania: Environment Department, Hertford
• Primary School Bosaca • Aang Serian, Arusha • Farnborough Grange School,
• Primary School Nova Bosaca • Amani UNESCO Club, Mtwara Farnborough
• Primary School Sv. Michala Nemsova • Fadhlun Mahmood, Dar-Es-Salaam • Hitchin Boys’ School, Hitchin
• Primary School Trencianske Bohuslavice • Global Brotherhood of Light, Dar-Es- • John Warner School, Hoddesdon
Salaam • The Knights Templar School, Baldock
Slovenia: • PCI Azania High School, Dar-Es-Salaam • Raglan Primary school, Bromley
• Gimnazija Koper, Koper • Roundwood Park School, Harpenden
The Union of Serbia and Montenegro: • Shephall Green Infant School, Stevenage
South Africa: • United Games Serbia and Montenegro, • Stevenage Music and Arts Centre,
• Diversity, Ladysmith Subotica Stevenage
• Wilger Veld and Youth Conservation • WWF-UK, Godalming
Group, Gauteng Togo: • Ysgol Gyfan Llanhari, Llantrisant
• Partnerships and Exchange Program for
Development, Lomé
and photos to 28 of us selected for the editorial team,
Afterword
all our kind advisers from UN agencies, experts in the
field, politicians, artists, including rock stars like U2
who invited us all to the concert “Zooropa” in
DEDICATED TO MIA AND PORTIA Wembley, London. Imagine that!
It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since Rio As one of the many who put that special book
Earth Summit, and even harder to believe that nine together, I am very happy to see its life continue in as
summers have faded out since August of 1993 - the meaningful and powerful a way as the process of
best summer of all for the 21 young editors of making it was. “Rescue Mission 2002” is written and
Children’s Edition of Agenda 21 entitled “Rescue designed by new unique young individuals who again
Mission : Planet Earth”, predecessor to this book. come from all different sides of this planet, who all
share the same invincible Life Energy that motivates
We all came from very different places, but and connects us all.
still from the same planet, and we all
shared the same invincible Life Energy - In the effort to make our world a
the one that makes tree roots grow over much better place that it is, many
concrete, the one that makes violin problems still seem hard to under-
concerts happen in wartorn cities, the one stand, even impossible to solve. Keep
that puts a smile on a sad child’s face in a this book beside you to guide you
refugee camp We all came with big ideas, through the current challenges of
great concerns and some knowledge and sustainable development and inform
experience from our different you about fantastic efforts already
e n v i r o n m e n t s . Put together with such done and being done. We all know
an important task as to create a book on that there is still A LOT to do! So, stop
sustainable development by and for young reading now, feel the Energy seep
people, we felt like a team with no limits through your veins and get active!!
but our imagination. We had access to the lat- You will see, change is possible if we
est information and analysis, adult Original Rescue Mission Editors all get involved.
expertise and the whole Peace Child logis-
tics to back us up. So “Rescue Mission : Planet Earth” Welcome my friend, to the great adventure of saving
came to life. Its success with 320,000 copies sold and our beautiful world!
translated into 20 languages, is a reflection of love,
trust and sincerity put into it by everyone who Danijela Zunec Brandt, editor of
contributed to its creation - the thousands of young the original “Rescue Mission : Planet Earth”
people who sent in their thoughts, poems, paintings
 S Sustainable development – development rural area becomes a town
Sanctions – trade penalties and prohibitions that meets the needs of today’s generation Ultraviolet radiation – Radiation that

Glossary taken against countries that disobey without affecting the ability of future comes from the sun and causes damage
generations to meet their needs. to your skin
international rules of behaviour
Defintion given in Bruntland Report Uranium – element that occurs naturally
Sanitation – drains and process of
Sweat shop – factory or workshop where from which the raw material for nuclear
disposing of human sewage
people work long hours, for little pay energy are drawn
Salinisation – the making of ground,
A Empowerment – giving power (and trust Interdependent - things that depend on water or other material salty
T V
Advocacy – Speaking out in support of an and confidence) to some one each other; eg countries or people who Shanty town – also called a slum; a
94 argument or a cause Environmentalism – the study and care trade, depending on the work of others neighbourhood of crudely built houses
Tariff – a tax or customs duty Vigil - a peaceful demonstration in support 95
91
Toxic gases – poisonous fumes of a cause or a person
Alleviation – lessening; making something for, the environment, the natural world Irrigation – the process by which fields Smallpox – formerly one of the world’s
Trans-national – across borders and Vivisection – the cutting up and examination
better Equilibrium – balance, calm – either and farmland is watered most virulent killer diseases; now eradicated
between countries of live animals for scientific research
Apocalyptic – resembling the Apocalypse – physical or emotional through vaccination since 1979
the end of the world! Erosion – the wearing away of rock or L Sustainability – the ability to continue
U X
Arbitrary – A random decision or one based soil by the action of rain, air, sea or rivers Land degradation – the erosion and indefinitely; resources which are replenished
Urbanisation – the process by which a Xenophobia – dislike or fear of foreigners
on an uninformed opinion Ethical – corresponding with ethics; gradual wasting of soil to the point where as quickly as humans consume them
moral, upright, honorable, correct things cannot grow any more
B Explicit – up-front, leaving nothing Landmine – bomb buried in the ground Mark Malloch Brown 18
Batik – The art of making coloured designs on
textiles using wax
Bio-mass – The volume of living things in a
certain area
unsaid or implied; clearly stated
Exploitation – make use of, derive financial
benefit from using a person or a resource
that are designed to explode when you
stand on them
Literate – able to read; opposite of illiterate
Livelihood – means of living; how you
Index G
Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs)
Genetic Engineering
6, 35
56
Mobius Loop
Millennium Young People’s
Congress
40

66
Millennium Young People’s Project
Biotech – The exploitation of living cells for F earn the means to live Genoa 62 16
commercial and industrial uses Family planning – use of birth control to Lobby – seek support; used especially to Global Alert 79 Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues 62
BSE – Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis: Mad prevent pregnancies and limit the size of gain political support for a cause A
Globalisation 6
cow disease - fatal to cows your family Aang Serian 64
Global Youth Participation 66 N
Bureaucracies – often critical word describing Fertile soil – earth or farms that support M Animal Rights 64
Global Youth Service Day 81 Nkosi Johnson 51
central government offices or administrations good crops and harvests Malaria – a fever spread by mosquitoes, it
Green Keita 31
Fertiliser – chemical or natural resource often causes death when untreated. Large B
C that can enrich soils and give better harvests numbers of developing countries still suffer O
Be the Change! 16, 66
Child trafficking – illegally buying and selling Foot and Mouth – highly infectious from it H Ottawa Treaty 67
Bellerive Foundation 30
of children disease that affects livestock; controlled Malnutrition – the state of being Hand in Hand with Tanzania Overseas Deveopmnt Aid (ODA)
Beijing Women’s Conference
Consensus – when all agree, more or less by slaughtering whole herds of animals under-nourished; not having enough food 81 68, 77
55
Contaminated – dirtied, polluted, poisoned Materialism – a philosophy that values HIV/AIDS
Bit-tax 69
Corporation – registered company, businesses G material things over spiritual values or 6,19,42,44, 47, 50, 73, 82 R
Corruption – use of bribery and fraud, Global warming – the bio-chemical feelings Herbert Peterson 43 Rescue Mission Planet Earth 6, 7
C
especially in government or business process by which our atmosphere is Migration – moving from one High Commission for Human Rights Renewable Energy 64
Cyanide – deadly poison; causes instant death enriched with carbon produced by burning place/country to another
Child slavery 78
17 Rome Food Summit 34
if consumed by humans fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – warming up Mobilise – organise people for action! Child soldiers 72
I
the surface of our planet Chipkos 79
International Council for Local S
D Grass roots – local level; people working O CITES 76
Environment Initiatives (ICLEI) Seattle 62
Desertification – the process by which at community level rather than at the level Over-exploited – over-used; used too Community Supported
60 Sustainable development 6
land becomes a desert of national governments or international much! Agriculture (CSA) 35
International Youth Parliament Small island developing states
Declaration – Statemen; formal institutions Convention to Combat
17, 66 16, 19
announcement Greenhouse gases – Carbon Dioxide and P Desertification 31
International Conference on Social Summit 47
Deforestation – the clearance of forests other gases that drive global warming, Pesticides – substances that you can
or trees which heats the planet up in the same spread or spray on fields or plants that kill Population and Development Special Session on Children 66
D
Dictator – an individual who rules a way as a greenhouse does insects 43
Drug Rehabilitation 81
country with absolute authority; the Pharmaceutical – to do with drugs or T
Durban Aids Conference 51
opposite of democracy H medicines J Third World Debt 69, 73, 77
Disenfranchised – people who are not Herbicide – poisonous weed-killer that Phenomenon – an occurrence usually an Jomtien 16, 17 Tobin Tax 69, 77
E
allowed to vote in elections kills grasses and other plant life unusual occurrence or happening Jeffrey Sachs 18 Trade Unions 59
Earth Summit 6, 7, 64
Donor government – a government that Pre-natal – before the birth of a baby Johannesburg 7
Eco-governance 76
gives money or resources I Prejudice – feelings arrived at without the Jubilee 2000 69 U
benefit of rational study or research
Eco-warriors 79
Immunised – person who has had an UN police force 73
E Eden Project 80
injection to prevent them getting a certain K
Economic progress – financial improvement R Education for Sustainable
disease Kofi Annan 7, 19 W
of a country or business Referendum – happens when the Development (ESD) 67
Implementation – putting into action Kyoto Summit 22 World Business Council 58
Eco-policies – environmental strategies government allows the whole electorate Environmental Sabbath 65
Indigenous – native; original people of a World Summit for Sustainable
implemented by governments to vote on a particular issue L Development 7, 17
country or a region
Ecosystems – the chain of life that links Re-orient – re-direct something or somebody F
Incentive – a payment or gift to motivate Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) World Summit for Children 16
plants, animals, insects and physical to a new direction Fair Trade products 39
people to work harder 36 World Conference on Human Rights
surroundings Reproductive Health – health care for Indigenous Knowledge 64
Initiative – the start, the origination of an Lord’s Resistance Army 72 17
Eco-tourism – tourism that tries to pregnant mothers Food and Agriculture
idea or a project World Youth Forum 16, 76
conserve the environment River blindness – a tropical skin disease Organisation (FAO) 34
Integration – the process by which things M
Effluent - sewage or industrial waste caused by thread worms, the eggs of Free the Children 78
are drawn together into a whole Millennium Development Goals Y
coming out of a factory or a town which can cause blindness
6, 18, 19, 36, 68 Youth Councils 66
 Peace Child International
In Papua New Guinea; when warring tribes of head-hunters made peace, they
each exchanged a child. The two children would grow up with the others' tribe and if in
96 the future, conflict threatened between the tribes, those children would be sent to
negotiate the peace. Such a child was called a "Peace Child."

AWARENESS ACTION
Peace Child International was founded in 1981 to Out of the books and conferences that Peace
encourage young people to become more Child has organised came the clear demand
aware of the global issues that will shape from young people to go beyond talking and
their future and to give them a platform take action. ‘Be The Change’ is the programme
from which to express their opinions about that came out of the Millennium Young
those issues. For the first ten years, they did People’s Congress in Hawaii in October 1999.
this through the musical, Peace Child. Like the It encourages young people to identify the
most urgent needs in their communities and

The Peace Child books

Papua New Guinea story, the musical was about
young people from cultures in conflict working together to build devise projects to address them. Several
peace through youth exchange. In the mid-80s, Peace Child hundred projects have been processed and
successfully braught some the first Russian young people to the nearly fifty are now underway or completed.
USA on a youth exchange - an event that helped hasten the Projects include touring plays to promote
collapse of the Iron Curtain. AIDS awareness, vaccinating slum children,
Peace Child’s mission is “Empowering young people” - putting building solar cookers, hosting workshops for
youth in control! None of the 5,000 Peace Child performances were rival gangs. Peace Child now sees its core
the same as each cast was encouraged to re-write it to create their business as promoting youth-led sustainable
own characters and include their own ideas. development as a key contribution to the
Since 1991, Peace Child has enabled young people to create a United Nations effort to achieve the
series of highly successful books on global issues - like human Millennium Development goals by 2015. With
rights and sustainable development. Working closely with the the government of the Kingdom of Morocco,
United Nations, with which it has consultative status, Peace Child it is organising a follow-up to the Hawaii
books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and been Congress to explore the role of young people
translated into over 20 languages. in development and, it is hoped, mobilise
more funding to support their efforts.

The Peace Child musical The White House

JOIN US!! You can get involved in Peace Child by: adopting a Be the Change! project; becoming a Be the
Change! ambassador (doing presentations about sustainable development to schools & youth groups); taking part in
one of our congresses; contributing to one of our books or magazine; or working as a volunteer in our office.
Contact: PEACE CHILD INTERNATIONAL, The White House, BUNTINGFORD, Herts, UK SG9 9AH
Phone: (+44) 1763 274 459; Fax: (+44) 1763 274 460; e-mail: contact@peacechild.org
www.peacechild.org