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| Cropped image of Mamadou Edrisa Njie at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between GYIN and Visaca Apex (Photo Credit: Mansa Banko) |
The Social Secretary of Biodiversity Action
Journalists (BAJ-The Gambia), Mamadou Edrisa Njie, is taking part in this
year’s Earth Hour, a two months project set out to
empower 14 local communities in the West Africa.
The Earth Hour Walk-to-Mali will engage 12 Earth Hour Champions that will
embark on a 3,404km round road trip
from Nigeria to Mali from
January 18 to March 15, 2014.
Set in motion by the Earth Hour Team in Nigeria and the Earth Hour
Global Team, the Walk-to-Mali initiative was born out of the “I Will If You Will Campaign” of the
Earth Hour at the beginning of 2013.
In March 2013, the Team made a commitment to
organize a Peace Walk to Mali, if 20,000 signatures were received to petition
the Federal Government of Nigeria to pass the still "pending" Climate
Change Bill.
The organisers said they believe that there
is a connection between environmental sustainability (especially with respect
to climate change) and Peace. They noted that due to shrinking of community
resources caused by climate change, citizens tend to move to places where
resources are still available, thus leading to conflict.
“Much of these have been witnessed in some
West African countries,” they said.
Mr Njie, who is also the National Coordinator
the Global Youth Innovation Network Gambia chapter, said it has become
pertinent to promote the culture of
peace and create more awareness on the importance of environmental
sustainability - which remains the main objective of the Walk-to-Mali.
This campaign will take them through seven
West Africa countries to reach 1,500
children, seven humanitarian
camps, five landmarks, 14 local communities, six UNESCO heritage sites and seven local radio stations, according to
Njie.
“This campaign will enable us to reach out to about 100 million people in West Africa,” he
said.
Activities during the walk will include advocacy visits, community vulnerability
mapping, community outreach, and capacity building, explains Njie, also an acting
Editorial Assistant and Newsroom Coordinator at The Gambia News and Report
Weekly Magazine.
The Earth Hour was
conceived by World Wildlife Fund and Leo Burnett, and first took place in 2007 in Sydney when
2.2 million residents participated by turning off all non-essential lights.
Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the
event.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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