LCOY Invites Youth to the US

20-21 October 2023, Washington, D.C - Youth Coalition leaders Simon Patrick Obi and Yasmine Al Moghrabi joined the Second Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) in preparation for the Conference of Parties (COP28) set later this year. 

The LCOY is an event under the umbrella of YOUNGO - the official Children and Youth Constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Conference serves as a space for young people to boost climate action locally and create inputs into international conferences such as COP.

LCOY represents a national version of the International Conference of Youth (COY) happening before COP, the annual UN-Climate Change Conference. 

During the Conference, Simon and Yasmine joined other delegates in conversations and brainstorming sessions around building action strategies to address the current climate crisis.

Young leaders were also given the opportunity to create policies about climate change and to lead negotiations with other young people across the country. 

“As a member of the Youth Leadership Board for the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, our aim is to foster connections and collaborate in advancing a fair and sustainable environment,” - Simon Patrick Obi 

The LCOY in Washington happened around the same time as other conferences around the world, which include, but are not limited to, Mozambique, Yemen, El Salvador, Philippines, Egypt, Ghana, Gambia, and Kenya.

According to YOUNGO, LCOYs form a fundamental part of the process of youth inclusion in intergovernmental negotiations on climate change, bringing together youth from across the country for collaboration, brainstorming and drafting of succinct policy proposals. They are the first step in the road towards Regional COYs, the Global COY, and youth participation in the COP itself.