Rio+20: Debate at the Morro da Babilonia Favela

REPRESENTING THE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S VOICE AT THE DEBATE HELD IN RIO’S  FAVELA

The slums of Rio de Janeiro are known as favelas. These house the poorest sections of the society. Rio+20’s goal of sustainable development and green economy will not be achieved without the integration of the entire civil society and this means inclusion of the deprived people of the favelas as well.

With this purpose in mind, a local Rio NGO organized a debate on 14th June titled “My world on the Planet”, at the MORRO DA BABILONIA favela in order to bring the local children in contact with select Rio+20 delegates.

I was chosen by MGCY (United Nations Major Group for Children & Youth) to attend this debate and share my vision of sustainability best practices with the residents of the favela. This debate involved a variety of young people from different social and economic backgrounds. It was a bilingual event and my discourse in English was simultaneously translated in Portugese for better understanding.

Field work is an extremely important activity and unless we convert our words into action by reaching out to the masses we will never get the future we want.

This event was televised on Brazilian TV and I was interviewed by them during the course of the debate. The draft resolution at the conclusion of the debate was also delivered to the Head of States during Rio+20. Integration of civil society into the UN mandate is a very important goal and I was happy to be able to do my bit for this.

Kehkashan Basu
Hub Leader, UAE