Regional project: Children and young people as agents in environmental and climate protection

Project title: Children and young people as agents for environmental and climate protection in schools and localities

Project areas: Dangbo commune in Benin, Kaélé commune in the far north of Cameroon, Mbouda commune in West Cameroon and Kozah 2 commune in Togo

Project duration: 1st Feb 2026 – 30th June 2028 (27 months and 2 months for the external final evaluation)

Local project partners: ESGB-Benin, ALDEPA-Cameroon, CIPCRE-Cameroon and CREUSET-Togo

Benin, Cameroon and Togo contribute little to global climate change, but suffer the effects of prolonged droughts, heat waves, floods, erosion, desertification and land degradation. Rural people living off agriculture, especially children and other vulnerable groups, are the most affected. Water pollution, excessive use of chemical inputs, deforestation and weak local environmental management structures aggravate the situation. In some areas, particularly in the Sahel, the scarcity and contamination of water resources directly threaten health, food security and access to drinking water, which is already insufficient for more than half of the population concerned.

These conditions lead to health problems, waterborne diseases, malnutrition and accentuate poverty, encouraging other violations of children's rights (early marriage, trafficking, non-schooling, etc.). Although all three countries have ratified international instruments protecting children's rights, including health, education and the right to a healthy environment, their implementation remains limited. National policies still do not sufficiently integrate environmental issues and child participation, especially in rural areas. Existing initiatives rarely effectively link the environmental dimension with children's rights.

Faced with this observation, the project is justified by the need to strengthen the resilience of local communities, by placing children and young people at the heart of the solutions. Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, including the fight against hunger and climate change, it adopts an innovative approach combining environmental protection and the promotion of children's rights. The objective is to transform children, often victims of climate crises, into committed actors capable of proposing and implementing local solutions (recycling, sustainable practices, awareness-raising among others).

The project is based on regional cooperation between four partners with complementary expertise, in order to respond to cross-border environmental challenges, test common approaches and ensure the transferability of results. Through its pilot and participatory nature, it aims to create a reproducible model for mobilizing children and young people for the protection of the environment and the climate.

Overall objective: The project contributes to ensuring that children in Benin, Cameroon and Togo live in a healthy and sustainable environment.

Project objective: In the communes of Dangbo in Benin, Mbouda and Kaélé in Cameroon and Kozah 2 in Togo, 4,000 children are promoting, in and with their schools and localities, sustainable and environmentally friendly practices that respect their rights and are transferable to different regions.

Sub-objectives

1. In 16 localities in Benin, Cameroon and Togo, 4,000 children and their parents as well as school and community actors have strengthened their capacities to actively participate in the creation of a healthier and more sustainable environment in schools and localities.
2. Good organic farming practices are known in 16 localities in Benin, Cameroon and Togo.
3. In 16 localities in Benin, Cameroon and Togo, good practices in drinking water protection and hygiene are known to better protect children against waterborne diseases.
4. The partners in charge of implementing the project in Cameroon, Togo and Benin strengthened their skills in the field of protecting children's right to a healthy and sustainable environment.

Direct beneficiaries

• 112 teachers from the schools of the project;
• 60 heads of the decentralized services of the State, the regional council and the communes working in child protection or in the environment;
• 80 representatives of civil society organizations active in the field of children's rights or environmental protection, from the project localities and beyond;
• 320 members of 16 drinking water source management committees in the 16 project localities from local organizations or associations, women's groups, public services, school clubs or parents of students;
• 480 parents under the age of 45 with young children;
• 368 young adults aged 18 to 25 without employment or future prospects;
• 288 young people aged between 14 and 17 who do not or no longer go to school;
• 800 students from the schools of the project.

Indirect beneficiaries

• 3,200 additional members of the 16 drinking water source management committees of the 16 project localities from local organizations or associations, women's groups, public services, school clubs or parents of students;
• 32 schools;
• 400 other parents under the age of 45 with young childre;
• another 480 young adults aged 18 to 25 who are unemployed and have no prospects;
• another 32,000 inhabitants of the 16 project localities affected by the activities of the project multipliers;
• At least 800 out-of-school school-age children whose parents are engaged in environmentally friendly income-generating activities
• 480 other young people aged between 14 and 17 who do not or no longer go to school;
• At least 4,000 other students from the schools of the project.

• Training of teachers and students in environmentally friendly behavior;
• Environmental actions in schools and communities and inter-school competition "My green school";
• Training of school club members in the recycling of non-organic waste;
• Production of a participatory radio series "My environment remains clean";
• Creation of fruit tree nurseries in each of the project commune;
• Establishment of a multifunctional ecological atelier in each of the project commune to train parents of children who have dropped out of school for economic reasons, unemployed young adults and out-of-school adolescents in income-generating activities in the green circular economy;
• Creation or revival of a green coalition bringing together state agents and civil society organizations so that the protection of the environment and children's rights become at the heart of their concerns;
• Promotion of agroecological approaches among parents, young adults and out-of-school adolescents;
• Creation of school gardens in 8 schools of the project;
• Creation or reactivation of drinking water management committees in the 16 project localities with WASH training of the members of the said committees;
• Support for the 16 schools of the project in the development and protection of existing drinking water sources;
• Strengthening the skills of project partners in environmental protection and children's rights.

Project costs: 645.120 Euros

Financial partners:

·       Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

·       Our 4 local partners and Kinderrechte Afrika e. V. (Donations)

Picture above: Environmental education on the farm of ESGB, Benin © ESGB