A cluster of dynamic Nigerian youths, yesterday, converged in Abuja at the kick-off of the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Digital Peers International to seek positive actions on ICT-based plastic management solutions.
The two-day event will also afford the youths the opportunity to take positive actions on plastic management for better tomorrow.
The programme, tagged, “Deploying the Power of IT-Engaged Youths in Effective Plastic Use and Waste Management” for the FCT and environs witnessed the attendance of a large number of enthusiastic youths with sincere concern on the issues of bad waste management and plastic waste disposal in the FCT, showing willingness to proffer valuable solutions, as well as great interests to learn from their peers.
In her welcome address, the chief executive officer of Digital Peers International, Mrs Ibukun Odusote, lamented the tragic situation where equivalent of one garbage truck’s worth of plastic are dumped into our oceans by the minute.
She said, “Plastic is also piling up in landfills and entering our food chain. Micro-plastics have now been found in human blood, raising our risk of cancer and developmental disorders. We are poisoning ourselves and the planet.”
While emphasizing that participants will be taken through lectures to help them develop effective, efficient and unique solutions that will tackle plastic, both at source and as well as at post-consumption levels within the FCT and its environs, she also applauded the efforts of the UNDP GEF Small Grant Funding, other partners, media houses as well as the participant for making a success story of this national campaign.
Other speakers at the event included the Managing Director of Digital Peers International, Engr. Adeolu Odusote, who gave the participants a feel of what is to be expected in the course of the programme in the next few days.
A representative of the Global Environment Facilities (GEF), Mrs Ronke Olubamise, further enlightened the participants on what the organisation stands for, as well as its reasons for supporting the programme through its Small Grant Program (SGP) as the largest organisation funding environmental related project all over the world.
