Some things I learned in Sri Lanka: Development, climate change & international negotiations

I spend my days as a Science and Innovation Officer at the Consulate in Los Angeles, but one of my external passions, and one which lead me to this position, is international development. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to cover the World Conference on Youth in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a Social Media Fellow. With the aim of mainstreaming youth in the post-2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) development agenda, more than 1000 young people attended from all over the world. Fellows attended to meet with countless youth organizations and various UN agencies to discuss an array of topics, including environmental protection, poverty eradication and food security. After countless flight delays and missed connections, I finally arrived in Colombo ready to cover the conference through Twitter, blogging, taking photos, and contributing to the conference newsletter.

There, I met people from all over the world who brought their own perspectives, experiences and interests into the various discussions on global development. For example, I met young people from Australia and Fiji who amongst other issues, strove to raise awareness of the impact of climate change. Speaking to a young environmental activist, I learned about a village in Fiji that has already relocated its residents due to the rise in sea levels that has led to flooding in the country. In researching rising sea levels, I learned that in 2005 the residents of Tegua, an island of the Torres Strait Islands, became the first climate change refugees as declared by the United Nations. The possibility of becoming a refugee as a result of climate change is something that I never realized was a reality. A rise in sea levels is just one of the challenges exacerbated by climate change. It could take years before most coastal cities feel the effects of rising sea levels. But that doesn’t negate the urgency in which the international community addresses climate change today.

Being in the midst of conversations and plenary sessions that drew in people from across the globe, I realised how connected various development issues are. It was also interesting to observe the negotiations on the “Colombo Declaration” that UN member states present at the conference worked to agree on. Sitting in that blissfully air-conditioned negotiations room, I was exposed to the realities of international cooperation, or sometimes the lack thereof, which affect the progress made towards addressing global challenges. Despite the difficulties in the negotiations, I was immensely inspired by the young people I met throughout the conference who are taking action to improve their local and global communities.

I flew back home from the conference with a greater understanding of various global development challenges and how different countries are affected by the issues. Development challenges affect each country in a different way, and international forums bringing together different perspectives, like the World Conference on Youth, will remain crucial post-2015.

This blog first appeared on The World Conference on Youth 2014 official blog.