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1ST SOUTH ASIAN YOUTH CONFERENCE Bangalore, India

23rd-29th May 2011

ACTION BASED CHANGE DECLARATION

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Table of Contents
Overview of South Asia Page 3

Introduction to South Asian Youth Conference...Page 3

Executive Summary.Page 4-5

Introduction to Peace With EnvironmentPage 5

Introduction to Sub-Themes Page 6-7

Action Steps for peace with environment..Page 8-10

Conclusion.Page 11

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Overview of South Asia

South Asia is home to around one fifth of the world's population, making it both the most populous and densely populated geographical region in the world. South Asian economies have performed strongly with GDP growth of 7 per cent (2009-10) despite the impacts of the global economic recession. South Asias recent growth performance has been spectacular; it remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But these achievements have created new challenges like rapidly-increasing wealth is not being shared equitably within countries. Disadvantaged sub-regions with poorly connected infrastructure, trade and political arrangements, and vulnerable groups such as women and minority populations, are falling further behind. South Asia has the largest concentration of poor people in the world, the highest rate of child malnutrition and the lowest income per capita. Based on current trends, the region will not achieve most of the MDGs. South Asia is also highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. This has the potential to undermine water and food security, increase the frequency and scale of natural disasters, and result in the displacement of vulnerable people.

South Asian Youth Conference 2011 The 1st South Asian Youth Conference (SAYC) was held in Bangalore from the 23rd May to 29th May 2011, at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). The Conference was hosted by Blue Ribbon Movement-a youth led organization working towards youth empowerment and leadership development in association with Peace Child International, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Road to Rio and several other leading organizations. The seven day conference consisted of plenaries, thematic sessions, workshops, open forums and action projects. Around 70 youth leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka gathered for a common cause, to build a Peaceful South Asia. Reflecting the goals of the UN International Year of Youth, the main objective of the conference was to seek dialogue and mutual understanding between the youth of South Asia, combat extremism, racial and national hatred, and resolve misunderstandings.

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Executive Summary

Action Based Change Declaration-Adopted at the 1st South Asian Youth Conference, Bangalore, India This declaration has been adopted by the delegates of the 1st SAYC and reflects the aspirations, ideas and commitments of youth in the region. The declaration is focused on specific actions that are relevant to the South Asian context and are grounded in the theme of Peace within, with others and with the environment. The key emerging themes of our discussions, over and above those reflected in the Istanbul Action Plan are: 1. Peace Within A) Individual Sense of Peace and Balance the role of individuals and the need to adopt a spiritual and humanitarian approach to our social actions. B) Education as a vehicle of social change educational reform that ensures equal access, holistic learning, infrastructural improvements, creating a South Asian University, leveraging digital technology and innovative schemes to meet low resource situations. C) Integrating the Self with the Planet small changes and awareness in everyday living, practices like biomimicry and composting and the understanding of connectedness in nature.

2. Peace With Others D) Building a strong South Asian community using arts, sport, culture, social media, conferences and joint action to blur the boundaries between countries and kick start the process of co-operation E) Nurturing Entrepreneurship leverage social entrepreneurship, implements green business ideas, create access to capital and nurture native low-cost solutions F) Leveraging the power of youth take charge and responsibility for the current situation and move towards creating a cohesive union in South Asia, connect and learn from each other and build a community of leaders

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3. Peace With Environment G) Influencing governments to invest in sustainability Lobby for sustainable infrastructure, develop sustainability indices, conduct eco audits and hold governments accountable for their commitments H) Empower with information Create access to information about government policies, implications of climate change and impact of joint action to the population at large using innovative media

4. Support Istanbul Action Plan and align our actions with the global youth movement

Introduction Peace with environment For nearly two decades the global community has been grappling to understand the concept and address the challenges of sustainable development. As we draw closer and closer to Rio+20 Earth Summit, the world is preparing to celebrate 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit, yet there are major Climate negotiations are still pending. As the 1st South Asian Youth Conference (SAYC) Delegates from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka , we attempt to identify the root causes and/or problems and deliberate on what practical solutions could be used to address these challengeable issues.

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THEMES
Throughout the conference we identified THREE sub-themes on Peace with Environment Namely,

01) Securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development. 02) Integrating the self with the Planet. 03) Creating an institutional framework for sustainable development.

These three themes cover the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSDs) RIO+20 general themes, which includes: A green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication The institutional framework for sustainable development

1. Securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development Government support for sustainability has been limited and its the time to hold governments accountable. Hence lobbying with the governments will hold them accountable and drive them to action. Influencing governments to invest in sustainability making it profitable to be sustainable Sustainable infrastructure development ensure sustainability being factored in all government spends. Make it measurable! Eco Audits for various sectors or alternatively have a sustainability index. Initiating more effective bilateral and multilateral meetings, capacity building programs between governments in South Asia to assess the progress towards internationally agreed commitments like agenda 21 and JPI. This will create a mutually co-operative South Asia - A Borderless South Asia which may easily succeed the Rio+20 goals.

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2. Integrating the self with the Planet Respect of nature is imbibed in the ethos of our region and the alignment between self and the planet will make a difference. Making small changes in everyday life and setting examples for others to follow Promoting eco-friendly practices like composting, eco-friendly travel and vermiculture Initiating awareness workshops in smaller groups taking small steps for big change. New initiatives to develop low-carbon economy by developing much more liberalized trading regime and switching from Brown economy to green economy. Developing Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Practices.

3. Creating an institutional framework for sustainable development. Involving various parts of the community citizens, not for profits, social enterprises and businesses and collaborating their efforts towards sustainability. Identify and address new and emerging challenges collectively through our communities and developing new strategies to overcome the challenges. Leverage organizations working towards ecological initiatives and align their efforts. New policy development and implementation with the help of NGOs/Civil societies.

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Action Steps for Peace with Environment Create an integrated campaign to Road to Rio+20 at national level and regional wise Identify government positions, the extent to which they have honored commitments. Actively petition to the governments to assess and honestly evaluate their commitments. Engage in a dialogue to discuss plan of action to tackle urgent and emerging challenges. Ex- Technology transfer with in the region, South Asian Green Fund, etc. Lobby with governments across South Asia to promote green economy, sustainable environment regulation and taxes. Encouraging government to invest more money on sustainable practices and making governmental departments more sustainable and efficient, this may become a role model for private and cooperate sectors. Governments should make a plan to cluster/reduce the existing large amount of MEAs( Multilateral Environmental Agreements) into a handful treaties which may be achievable and effective. Leverage the SAYC delegates to form an advocacy council that forms guidelines and frameworks for action and evaluation.

Lobbying with developed Countries and South Asian nations to self-regulate consumption and to promote SCP practices. The people, community and NGOs at all levels should urge developed countries to regulate their consumption at all levels and reducing their own (South Asians) consumption level. Reduce, reuse, regenerate, recycle and re-structure are the 5 Rs that will lead to sustainable development in all countries we will insist on their application to ourselves and other nations Peoples current perception of good life in many cases is contradictory to sustainable living. We should make people realize that sustainable living = good and successful life. Encouraging producers to adapt sustainable production techniques like energy efficient techniques, Carbon labeling etc. Promoting local food and materials-This will reduce the carbon footprint of the food chain.

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Spread awareness about sustainable living in our immediate community.

Use the online SAYC forum to facilitate communication, provide resources and information between different research institutes across SAARC specifically for ongoing research in the ecological space. Use media including radio shows and writing articles showcasing the importance of sustainable living in innovative and engaging ways. Spread awareness about universities that are doing green research and career opportunities in green entrepreneurship. Creating mass action days- Implementing special projects, Mass green walks (Walk for Rio+20) etc. Using sports, arts and culture as a means to promote various social causes. This medium could be used as a tool to educate inspire and act towards a green world.

Reducing the use of plastic. Replacing plastic bags with jute bags and natural materials Reduce use of plastic in our day-to-day living

Ecological Regeneration Each delegate plants a tree in their house or any space they find. They form a relationship with the tree and make sure it grows well. Plants can be gifted on occasions like birthdays.

Promote a new concept called the green heir which tells a person to adopt trees and nurture it till it grows.

Connect students in their universities with NGOs who then can take internships with them and work for environmental causes.

Eco-friendly travel: We will promote /initiate cycle rallies, walking and running for a cause. We will also use cycles or walking for close distances. We will encourage carpooling amongst their relatives and friends.

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Preserving natural corridors connecting with the zoologist and ecologist fraternities in our respective countries and start a strong campaign towards preserving these corridors. Create a presentation to lobby for the same and make it available to the SAYC delegates.

Promoting Vermitechnology: Create pits in schools where students can empty out their excess tiffin or any other organic products. Use the vermin compost for gardening. Lobby to pass a policy of making vermi-compost compulsory.

Reflective analysis of daily events we will reflect on daily events Our reflective questions: How and with how much awareness did we use water and electricity today? Did we contribute to a greener world today? Are we using eco-friendly materials and electronics in our day to day use? What new information did we learn or gather about the global ecology movement? Are we moving closer to adopting ecological practices like rainwater harvesting? Have we joined or contributed to any ecological organization or movement?

Promoting Youth entrepreneurship by creating more opportunities to work on the transition from Fossil fuel economy to Green Economy through competitions like GEEBIZ

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Conclusion

In addition to this document, the delegates agree in spirit to the Istanbul Action Plan. Several recommendations of the plan made to the youth civil society will be incorporated in our actions. Additionally, the proposals for the governments will also be lobbied based on relevance to our respective countries. We understand that there is an urgent need to work at an individual level and initiating change through our own actions. At the same time, we need to foster peace between each other for a more harmonious co-existence. At an ecological level we need to hold our governments accountable and lobby for change. With its large population and rich culture, South Asia has much to offer to the world. At the same time we have lessons to learn from the experiences of other regions. While the challenges faced by us as a region seem to be huge, we believe that small steps at an individual level will unleash a wave of change that will help us actualize our vision of a strong South Asia and a cohesive world.

Contact Details-

Name

- Abhishek Thakore Organizing Chairperson 1st South Asian Youth Conference.

Address Email

- 303 A Fressia 2, Navagaon, Dahisar (W), Mumbai - 68 - abhishek.thakore@brmworld.org

Telephone - (R) +91-22-28930234 (M) +91-9920279683 Web Site - www.sayc2011.org www.brmworld.org