On October 9-11, 2024, Planeteer Alliance leaders Solomon Ekundayo and Toluwalase Abiona attended the first-ever Regional Youth Forum on Blue Economy in Côte d’Ivoire. This event, hosted by BLUE Côte d’Ivoire, an NGO created with the mission to preserve the environment by fighting plastic pollution, seeks to gather young people from across West Africa to discuss promoting a sustainable blue economy and reducing plastic pollution.
Solomon (24) and Toluwalase (25) attended the conference as representatives of the Captain Planet Foundation’s Planeteer Alliance. Both have served as leaders within the Planeteer Alliance community, successfully completed the Tide Turners Plastic Policy training with CPF and the United Nations Environment Programme, and have started their own organizations focused on tackling the crisis of plastic pollution.
The pair also spent time discussing the mission of Planeteer Alliance with their colleagues – sharing stickers, fliers, and encouraging registration for the PlaneteerHQ platform, “They appreciate the amazing work in the Planeteer Alliance, especially how the community helps to translate the ideas of young leaders to reality to solve global challenges,” says Solomon, “The participants are filled with innovative ideas to tackle environmental issues and they are excited about the impacts they’ll create with the support of Planeteer Alliance.”
This conference was attended by 90 youth activists from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger, and The Gambia, all of whom participated in leadership training to learn techniques for community mobilization and advocacy strategies. They also visited a recycling facility and learned about the science and lifecycle of plastic, plastic production, and how the material can be repurposed into reusable products.
The forum developed a project proposal titled Youth Environmental Justice Alliance (YEJA): West Africa Network for Action on Plastic Pollution. The project aims to establish a network of youth organizations across West Africa to address environmental justice issues with an initial focus on plastic pollution through the creation of a regional plastic pollution database which will serve as a critical tool for awareness, advocacy, and policy change.
Toluwalase was selected as a moderator to anchor the discussion of the forum. Solomon was selected as a reporter to help draft recommendations of the forum and project proposal.
The Regional Youth Forum on Blue Economy was the pioneering platform to bring together young leaders within West Africa to solve environmental justice issues. “It was an amazing experience connecting with other participants, learning and contributing meaningfully to the discussion and exploring the beautiful city of Abidjan,” shared Toluwalase, reflecting on the experience, “We appreciate the Planeteer Alliance and Captain Planet Foundation for the support!”