ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL DIALOGUES
Action Now! Climate Youth Activism
Thursday, June 23, 2022 10-11am ET Online
Join us for this lively online discussion with Q&A
(This event was originally planned for May and has been rescheduled for June 23, 2022)
Anisa Bek Derna AKA Nissa Bek is a media personality and a climate activist and the founder of Project Mulan, a youth led project that aims to spread and achieve the UN Development Programme's sustainable development goals in Libya. Bek Derna was Libya's representative at @connect4climate's Youth Driving Ambition (2021 PreCOP26 in Milan). In addition to her personal projects she is the national leader of Let’s Do it and Fridays for Future in Libya.
Ahmed Elhadj Taieb, environmental blogger, is a 23 year old Environmental Science student with a major in waste management, pursuing a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering. Taieb is General Secretary of the Youth for Climate Tunisia Movement and is also a Youth Ambassador with the international movement Break Free from Plastic. Ahmed Elhadj Taieb is one of the youngest Tunisians to participate in COP as part of the official delegation and recently was named one of the 10 African youth climate activists that are changing the face of the planet. 
Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a full-time climate justice activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines. She is the convener for and international spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines YACAP, the Fridays For Future of the Philippines. She is also an organizer with FFF International and FFF MAPA (Most Affected Peoples and Areas) making sure that especially voices from the Global South are heard, amplified, and given space.
Temple of Understanding Summer Internship Program
We are honored to welcome our 2022 TOU Interns from around the world (Scotland, Sweden, China, US, Canada, Uganda, UK, and South Korea) virtually this summer! In just three weeks, our interns will explore the influential and effective work of the Temple of Understanding and learn more about the United Nations as they begin to think about the topics they will be researching throughout the program. The interns will be attending the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), a UN process where missions present their progress towards the SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals.
This year, in a new and exciting intersection of our work at the Temple of Understanding, the interns will attend our live webinar ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogues focusing on environmental youth activism. The Summer Internship Program will commence with the "Action Now" Dialogue with young international advocates from Libya, the Philippines, and Tunisia. They will complete the internship by attending our "Wake up America" Dialogue with North American youth representatives from Fridays for Future, Our Children's Trust, and Zero Hour. Our summer interns will also be hearing from UN speakers on numerous topics, connecting with people from around the world, experiencing religious site visits, and more!
Notes from Grove Harris TOU Representative to the UN
Interfaith Statements on the Environment
The Temple of Understanding has been actively engaging in pushing for rigorous structural analysis in Interfaith statements, so that new opportunities for faith-based collective statements in UN processes meet the current moment. At UNEA-5, for the first time the Faith 4 Earth was invited to contribute a statement to the official proceedings of member states. 
The full proceedings of the Faith for Earth Dialogue at UNEA 5.2, including recordings of the sessions, is available here.
And now at Stockholm +50, a UNEP stocktaking of 50 years of environmental efforts, another statement came out of an international process. You can read about the outcomes here.
The Temple of Understanding also participates in these environmental spaces through participation in the Women's Major Group, in particular through the smaller group WMG@UNEA5, which also offered a side event at the Stockholm conference. The recording of that is available here. You can readily see that women working internationally are forefronting the voices of women from the global south, and working in collegial relationships. We are all in this together.

NGO CSW ongoing work
The work of the NGO CSW continues year round, and their increasing focus on effective advocacy is most welcome. The May meeting highlighted the work of the Advocacy & Research Group and you can read the report on the Forum here.
The recording of the Temple of Understanding’s NGO CSW program, Women’s Leadership on Climate Change: Coastal Ecology and Native Wisdom, is available on Youtube. 

UN Ocean Conference: Side Event on Blue Bonds
The Temple of Understanding, as part of the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, is co-sponsoring this official virtual side event of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference: Can Harnessing Blue and Thematic Bonds Build a Sustainable, Regenerative Ocean Economy? June 29, 2022, | 1:00pm – 2:30pm EDT. Please register here.
Watch our latest
ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogue
"Let’s Go Organic: Empowering Local Food Systems" 
Dialogue with Dave Chapman, Spencer Fenniman, Ango Sara Tashker. 
Recorded April 22, 2022
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