On January 12th in 2010, a youth organization called Groupe Jeunesse Espoir, based in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, organized a live broadcast session.
Mrs. Odia MALAÏKA, the presenter of Allo les Jeunes, interviewed the Groupe Jeunesse Espoir Programme manager Mr. Mons Ndudi NZEMBA. The Earth Charter is a source of inspiration of the local community and therefore it also played an important role in the broadcasting. The broadcasting session also served as an introduction to the Earth Charter.
Groupe Jeunesse Espoir’s goal is to work towards a community problem solving with the help of the Earth Charter principles.
The broadcast covered the following main areas:
- An overview of the historical background of the Earth Charter Initiative;
- A call for promoting sustainable living lifestyles;
- A justification of the aim of to integrate the Earth Charter among the objectives of the youth organization.
A commitment to use the Earth Charter’s ethical vision for the time being is very important in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a nation, the country is a victim of many impacts of armed conflicts, mainly in its Eastern provinces. The issue of the armed conflict is a very complex one; its impacts are wide; they are political, economical, biophysical and sociocultural. For instance, poaching, illicit trade networks and over-exploitation of natural resources in the protected areas, as well as the human suffering, are some of the impacts.
Groupe Jeunesse Espoir is making proposals to fully integrate the EC principles in the course of country’s actions. To achieve the set goals, community participation and the capacity to deal with the global issues and solutions, are essential. The main message the youth group wants to send to everyone is the urgent need for a radical change of thinking and acting. With some help of a good, grass root level management, some very important changes could be done. The responsibility of the environment and the well-being of the community belong to everyone.