My Speech as presented at the Medicines San Frontieres OCA CAFE 2019 Amsterdam

I started on a mission to protect the only planet we call home. I joined millions of fellow young activists to demand urgent climate action. The fight I took on is not about to end. I will do everything within my power to protect the lakes and rivers of Uganda, to defend the tropical forests in my country and above all fight any kind of environmental injustice anywhere. This is a mission am prepared to do at any cost.

  CLIMATE CHANGE A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.

Climate change is the first common challenge we have in the history of this world. We are already late for action meaning we need urgent climate action. The climate crisis is affecting humanity and the entire ecosystem. We cannot afford to wait any longer. There is danger in delaying climate action. Our inaction is putting everything at risk. Climate refugees are increasing; diseases like, malaria, cholera among others are on the rise and have been linked to climate change given the increasing temperatures. The health of our people is at risk if we marginalize climate change as only an environmental issue.

The climate crisis is a health crisis, and the effects of this crisis are clearly portrayed in the status of the patients MSF doctors help to serve. Our natural systems breakdown and our days to survive on this planet depend on how fast we act towards this emergency.
Air pollution is not only adding to the carbon content in the atmosphere, but it’s a lead cause of diseases and death especially in poor countries. In Uganda, importation of old used vehicles and bad roads mostly affected by floods is affecting millions of urban resident’s health.
Raising temperatures and heat waves means that many people more so in Agro-based countries like mine will not be able to raise income and have access to good health. Coffee which is Uganda’s largest export cannot thrive in such climatic conditions; the heat is causing droughts in Kenya’s turkana land and north east districts of Uganda and thus starvation. This intensifies health issues, and increases the risk to malnutrition. Many tropical diseases like malaria have been attributed to the increasing global heat. This disease has claimed more lives of young people below 15 years of age.

Regards humanitarian concern

For action, the societies most affected by climate change are habitats of the poor that can cope with the problem and that contribute the least to greenhouse emissions. For Uganda, we have increasing street children and adult flocking urban centers running from drought infected areas. All they find are trenches, sheets, old houses to live in. some are young girls who are raped by men; It is an open secret for these girls to give birth at 14 years. When you ask why they are running to town, they will tell you because we can’t farm anymore, no rain, no water, no pasture and no food.  We need to take action now to save people’s lives and societies from breaking down as well as the future generation.
Partnerships are important.

We need collective action to address climate change. There is need to build collaboration and capacity, in this case for Fridays for future Uganda, we are a student and youth led platform who really can’t do much on our own but we are trying our best to create change.
My self, am part of efforts to beat plastic pollution on the shores of Lake Victoria, this is to create clean healthy communities and as well as fight the plastic danger to our water bodies and aquatic life. I survive on my own pocket money together with my friends to implement such an activity, but little is still done yet we are running out of time. In order to scale up the program into a better project, we need to work with others.

Partnerships facilitate exchange and sharing of resources that the other party may not have. The societies more vulnerable to the danger cannot survive the conditions. So we can sit down and watch our selves doing all this mass. Everybody can take action to save our environment, rich or poor, young or adult, at least change your behavior by reducing your carbon footprint.
Powerful thought / question. 

Ladies and gentlemen our planet is ill. If you do not care about the environment at least care about us the children and generations to come. How do you even say you care about children when you have no heart for the environment?  This is not a matter of choosing between optimist and pessimism, it is a matter of choosing between action and inaction. I urge everyone here to take climate action now, whether you do it or not, me and fellow youth will not give up.
I thank you.
Nakabuye Hilda Flavia, Organizer Fridays For Future Uganda.