UNESCO's Engaged Initiative and National Geographic call on young changemakers in Latin America and the Caribbean to join the ocean challenge

The climate emergency is keeping the world on alert. Ocean pollution is one of the biggest climate challenges facing the planet. Every year, 80 per cent of plastic ends up in the oceans. Not only are the oceans responsible for producing at least 50 per cent of the world's oxygen, they also make up 70 per cent of the Earth's surface and are home to millions of species.

Caribbean Small Island Developing States, SIDS, rely heavily on the oceans for their livelihoods and sustainable development.

The Engaged Initiative, led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, Socialab and Ashoka in collaboration with National Geographic, invites youth from Latin America and the Caribbean, aged 18-29, to submit project ideas that will help address some of the challenges facing the oceans and the environment. 

3 initiatives have a chance to win 2,000USD to develop their innovative solutions.

All ideas submitted will benefit from online mentoring from experts who will help develop and improve the proposals.

Engaged with the Oceans and the Environment is an open call for proposals which convenes youth between 18 and 29 years from Latin America and the Caribbean who have a project idea or an ongoing project which impacts their community and aims to address an environmental challenge, thus contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Taking action to tackle the problems the oceans and the environment face is paramount to address Climate Change. Youth can submit their ideas through the following platform: http://bit.ly/compoceanos by 15 July 2021.

For further information please contact: contacto.comprometidos@gmail.com

Engaged is an initiative jointly organized by Ashoka, Socialab and UNESCO since 2015 that has actively engaged over 10,000 young people from the region in creating youth-led projects to promote sustainable development.

For more information on Engaged, please visit: https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice/montevideo/comprometidos