8th SAYEN Regional Meet in Thimphu

New country, new faces, new customs, but the goal is same -- to find bright young people who will come up with ideas for sustainable development in South Asian environmental activities. Thirty participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan participated in the 8th South Asia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN) Regional Meet, held in Thimphu, Bhutan from July 24 to 26, 2013. The meet was hosted by the Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN) Bhutan, BAYER, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Centre of Environment Education (CEE), and UNEP's magazine TUNZA. The theme was “Youth Stake in Post Rio+20 and UN Post 2015 Agenda”.
Lam Dorji, executive director of RSPN, gave the welcome speech and talked about the role of SAYEN in engaging the youth in environmental protection and sustainable development. Education Secretary of Bhutan, Aum Sangay Zam, said that youth activism in South Asia was vibrant with many networks springing up to protect the environment. Regional Information Officer of UNEP, Satwant Kaur, said, “We are not trying to form a group of environmentalists, but a group of environment conscious citizens.” Madhavi Joshi, Programme Director of SAYEN, discussed the vision, mission, and opportunities of SAYEN.
Shahnawaz Khan Chandan and Jesmin Nahar -- undergrad students from Dhaka University and Asian University for Women, respectively -- were selected as SAYEN country representatives for Bangladesh.
As part of the conference, participants visited national botanical garden and other environmental sanctuaries in Bhutan. On the third day, they came up with an action paper and a declaration for the upcoming two years. The final declaration will be sent to the United Nations as an initiative of the South Asian students to protect the environment. Shahnawaz Khan Chandan was elected as Regional Youth Adviser for SAYEN in Bangladesh for the period of 2013-'15. For the two years, country representatives of SAYEN will focus on waste management, utilisation of water resources, protection of bio diversity and other environment activities.

Jesmin Nahar is a 3rd year student at Asian University for Women.