Young environmental activists gather in Kigali, Rwanda, for Youth Advocacy Clinic

The clinic will be held at the Kigali Convention Center in Rwanda from the 17th to the 19th of May as part of the Sustainable Energy for ALL forum (SEforALL).

The writer, second from right, with other participants

RWANDA: African Environmental and Energy Youth Activists gathered at Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-A) in Kigali, Rwanda, for a Youth Advocacy Clinic themed "Data-Driven Messaging Just and Inclusive Energy Transition."

The clinic will be held at the Kigali Convention Center in Rwanda from the 17th to the 19th of May as part of the Sustainable Energy for ALL forum (SEforALL).

Wanjira Mathaai, Vice President and Regional Director of the World Resources Institute in Africa (WRI), stated during the opening of the Youth Clinic that at least 4 million women and children are dying in Africa due to a lack of clean cooking energy, and that there is no development without clean energy.

“Energy is key in Africa‘s development and how are we going to get to Net-Zero without clean energy; hence, our just energy transition,” said Mathaai.

Hope Okuthe, Project Officer for Africa Energy Access and Transition Initiative at Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), urged participants to engage in climate action because youth action brings about change.

The African environmental youth activists will be equipped with knowledge on the state of energy access in Africa, African perspectives on energy financing African energy transitions, and African perspectives on energy for the African economic agenda ahead of the SEforALL Forum, which begins tomorrow, May 17th.

The event will bring together government officials, civil society organisations (CSOs), environmental activists, researchers, and academicians from around the world to discuss energy transition in Africa.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), World Resource Institute, and Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-A) are the co-organizers of the Youth Advocacy Clinic in Kigali, Rwanda.

Youth activists from Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda, to name but a few, are present.