![](/themes/custom/youngchampions/img/YCOE_logo.svg"){kind=logo}
I am a 23-year-old Zambian environmental activist and social entrepreneur. I am passionate about inspiring people to live in harmony with nature. I am the co-founder of Agents of Change - a youth radio and leadership organization. I was awarded the 2015 Queen's Young Leaders Award from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in the UK. In 2016, World Wide Fund for Nature honoured me with its top International Accolade, the “WWF International Presidents Award”. I am a UNICEF Climate Ambassador, Mandela Washington Fellow, Royal Commonwealth Society Fellow, and an Alumnus of both the Cambridge University and the University of Delaware.
Brighton Kaoma - Zambian, Africa
2017 Winner | | Zambian
Children are good at radio. Radio is good for children, and listening to children on the radio is good for everyone. So how is it that children have been forgotten in environmental advocacy through radio programming? In Zambia, they represent roughly 40% of the population, yet less than 1% of broadcasting on climate change and the environment involves children. The strong institutional basis for inclusion of children’s rights in the national climate regime has yet to align with an emerging mechanism for championing children’s issues in the sector. For example, Zambia’s National Adaptation Programmes of Action rarely, if ever, reference the unique vulnerabilities of children. Similarly, they often fail to draw on the practical knowledge and capacity for meaningful change that children offer. Voice4Climate envisions building a Kids FM Radio Station to create opportunities for child-led issue-based dialogue, participation, active citizenship, and advocacy on Climate Change.
Disclaimer:
NOTE: This content was shared online for the 2019 cycle of the Young Champions of the Earth programme and has not been updated. This listing does not constitute any endorsement by nor status with the UN Environment Programme.
Previous Regional Winners
Young Champions of the Earth is a forward-looking prize designed to breathe life into the ambitions of brilliant young environmentalists.