Four young leaders from Kiribati and Tuvalu depart with powerful message to Australia’s Government and People: Please Don’t Forget Our People, Act on Climate Change Now! Four young leaders from Kiribati and Tuvalu are heading home today after spending two weeks in Australia doing intensive advocacy and media training at the Edmund Rice Centre in Sydney. It is fitting that they will arrive home on World Environment Day, as the theme this year raises a call for solidarity with Small Island Developing States in the face of their vulnerability to climate change. “The highlight of our time in Australia was the trip to Canberra where we met with many members of Parliament and presented our cultures and stories to the media”, said spokesperson for the group, Maina Talia. “The advocacy and media training really prepared us to meet the politicians and will help us with future advocacy for climate justice”. “We did not come here to put the blame on Australians. We came to ask Australians as our neighbour and big brother to be a sign post to other industrialised countries. Now we are leaving Australia we want to ask the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, to rethink his Government’s climate change policies, and take the lead on climate change action”, Mr Talia said. “We ask all the Australians who have heard us to remember our stories. Please do not forget our nations of Kiribati and Tuvalu. These are our homelands. We were born there and we want to die there, in the place of our family and ancestors. We want our children to grow up as we grew up. “However without urgent action internationally the future for our children is uncertain. Relocation of our people will not solve climate change”. Coordinator of the Pacific Calling Partnership, an initiative of the Edmund Rice Centre, Jill Finnane said, “These young leaders have moved the hearts and minds of all the people they have met in Australia, not just through their powerful message about what is happening on their islands and their fear for the future but also with the refreshing dignity and heart they have shown to all”. “For three of them this was their first time in Australia and their first introduction to international climate advocacy. They have overcome their fears and courageously told their stories with passion and urgency. They have been supported by looking to the example of mature leaders such as President Anote Tong of Kiribati and Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of Tuvalu”, Mrs Finnane concluded. The pilot project for the Kiribati Australia Tuvalu Exchange Program (KATEP) took place in Sydney and Canberra between May 19 to June 4 2014. The young leaders met with a parliamentarians, church and community leaders, and school groups. Their powerful testimonies presented in word, song and dance were covered extensively on national radio, television and in newspapers. The KATEP group depart Sydney on Wednesday June 4 from Sydney International Terminal. They are available for interview and photos from 10 am until 11 am. For interview with members of the young leaders group or with Jill Finnane please call 0409 640 366
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 00:11:55 +0000
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