Global Shapers Ilorin wins $12K grant to accelerate climate action projects in Nigeria

A Global Shapers Community division, Ilorin Hub, has won a $12K grant to accelerate climate action projects within local communities in Kwara State, Nigeria.

The Founding Curator, Qudus Yusuf, in commemoration of the World Earth Day, made the announcement on Friday in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria.

According to the statement, the $12K grant was awarded to the hub after participating in the just concluded Youth Climate Action Challenge hosted by a US-based NGO, The Climate Reality Project, and sponsored by philanthropist Rosamond Zander.

The hub emerged winner in the contest alongside five (5) other hubs including Tswane Hub, South Africa; Port of Spain Hub, Trinidad and Tobago; Thimphu Hub, Bhutan; Rawalpindi Hub, Pakistan; and Los Angeles Hub, USA.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the hub is one of the Global Shapers Community spanning 456 city-based hubs in 150 countries.

Targeted at scaling climate action in 2022, the fund is expected to help the Ilorin Hub accelerate its climate action project dedicated to building resilience and adaptation in selected local communities in Kwara State.

The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in a recent report (titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability) acknowledged that climate change has caused dangerous disruption in nature and has affected billions of people across local communities.

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Speaking on the development, Qudus noted that the hub will invest in the sensitization of local residents in mapped areas of the state as part of it’s project.

He said: “Having being victims of outcomes of climate change which often manifests in recurring flooding in Ilorin, the project is essentially designed to empower residents of local communities in Ilorin East and West build resilience and develop capacities towards taking solution enabling climate actions.

“In order to enhance sustainability of the project, we also aim to empower local initiatives designed towards addressing climate change in the communities. Thus, at the end of the project, we hope to have developed the capacity of over 3000 residents of these two local governments towards taking climate actions in their communities and also support victims of flooding with small grants.”

In his remarks, Azeez Abubakar, the hub’s Climate Action Project Lead, while commending the collaborative efforts of the team, further noted that the project would include the hosting of workshops in local languages to scale and drive impact.

He said: “It’s a big win for the hub being a newly founded hub (less than a year old). It reassured us that when we come together as young people we can achieve whatever impact we want to co-create in our local communities.

“As part of the project, workshops conducted in local languages will build the capacity of community members to facilitate climate-resilient development and thereby tackle adaptation problems within Ilorin.”

The Climate Reality Project, among other rewards for the hub, will facilitate mentorship opportunities for members of the hub through the engagement of global shapers and other young global leaders.

Founded in 2011 by Professor Klaus Schwab, who is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Global Shapers Community is a network of young people dedicated to driving dialogue, action and change within local communities.

The Climate Reality Project is a consolidation of two environmental organizations, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Project, both founded in 2006 by former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore.

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