October 7th: Climate Justice

Sponsored by VIVAT International, Dominican Leadership, and Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loretto Generalate

Climate change worsens long-standing inequalities for girls, including gender-based violence, and jeopardizes access to education, economic security, and health resources. We need to speak up for #GirlsRightsNow to climate justice.

What are the climate solutions your girl advocates are speaking up about?

Join us on YouTube and Facebook at 10:00 am on October 7th as girl advocates engage in a Q & A to discuss their work towards climate justice!

Speakers’ Bios:

Ashley aged 17, a Zimbabwean, is a student of St Dominics Chishawasha currently studying Physics, Chemistry, and Maths. She aspires to be a mechanical engineer. Ashley is a proud activist who believes that the environment does not need us but it is humanity that depends on mother earth.

Tariro aged 17, a Zimbabwean, is a student at St Dominics Chishawasha currently studying Accounting, Business Studies, and Geography. She loves nature and her heart bleeds when it is not being looked after. Tariro says that “Mother Earth has given a lot to humanity and humanity has closed its eyes to the benefits.”

Aarna Shrivastava is 9 year old, climate warrior and student from Loreto Convent School, New Delhi, India. She is the Chief Environment Officer for Youth Action for Change. At just 6, she saw the fatal effect of an irresponsibly thrown plastic bottle on a dog and from then learned and observed how human actions were destroying the planet with litter and plastic pollution. She started Youth Action for Change (YAC) with the belief that young people need to be included, trained, and educated for our planet to have a just future.

Who we are: 

VIVAT International

VIVAT International is a Non-Governmental Organization that has a membership of more than 25,000 from 11 Catholic Religious Congregations, working in 120 countries to promote human rights through advocacy at international and local levels while engaging the United Nations procedures and mechanisms. Our presence at the UN envisages attaining a world of equality, justice, reconciliation, peace, and care of the environment.

Our work is centered on eliminating violence against women and girls – one of the most pervasive and brutal forms of discrimination that they experience. Women and girls are a strong force, and their contribution to building a healthy society is immense. It is an essential human right that all women and girls’ fundamental dignity and equality must be ensured. Their inclusion and participation in the decision-making must be enhanced in social, political, economic, religious, and other structures and systems.

Dominican Leadership

U.S. Dominican Leadership Conference is an organization that unites and supports elected leaders of the Dominican Sisters Conference who are committed to building relationships and collaborating in the mission of preaching the Gospel for the sake of a more just world order.

Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) and the Congregation of Jesus (CJ) work in over 40 countries to promote the Sustainable Development Goals, care for the environment, and advocate for human rights, especially as it relates to women and girls. Our organization collaborates with local communities and educates over 400,000 students and women to claim their human rights, including their rights to equality, a healthy environment, and an inclusive society.

The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate NGO (IBVM NGO) represents both the IBVM and CJ network at the United Nations. The worldwide IBVM/CJ network (Mary Ward Family) is present at the UN where the voice of civil society is of increasing importance in multilateral decisions aimed at encouraging the human community to peaceful and respectful collaboration in a way that benefits all people and our planet.