In an unprecedented initiative, the Magdalena Sectional Colombian Red Cross, in collaboration with the American Red Cross and the National Society of the Colombian Red Cross, has invested nearly $390 million to train 221 young people in the District of Santa Marta. This ambitious program aims to prepare local youth to confront and mitigate the effects of climate change in their community.
The training, which took place in seven different neighborhoods, equipped these young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop projects aimed at adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change. After completing their training, participants presented a variety of projects that seek to address specific problems in their respective communities.
The projects presented by the young people themselves once the training is completed, which undergo a selection process by the cooperating American Red Cross, will be executed between May and June in the communities of Divino Niño Alto, Luz del Mundo, Colinas del Río, Alpes A, Buenos Aires, Timayuí 2 and Taganga.
The purpose of these plans is for young people to become leaders in their own communities and with the support of their neighbors, together with the staff of the Magdalena Sectional Colombian Red Cross and with the help of the Administrative Department for Environmental Sustainability, Dadsa and the Magdalena Regional Autonomous Corporation, Corpamag, actions are taken to adapt to climate change and its consequences.
The president of the Magdalena Sectional Colombian Red Cross, Julia María Benavides Parejo, indicated that “this methodology seeks to help young people understand climate change and take practical measures to adapt to it in their community, since these actions are interventions that give them tools to adapt the conditions of their environment, in order to withstand the impacts of extreme climate events, such as intense rains that cause flooding or slow-onset events, such as extreme heat and drought, which are beginning to see today.”
He also said that “the execution of this project, which has had the support of the American Red Cross and the National Society of the Colombian Red Cross, is a contribution that is made to the District of Santa Marta through young people, who “They are the future of society, so that they are the ones who empower themselves and lead this task of facing climate change, which is a reality and its effects are beginning to be seen.”
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