COAST WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT

Report for World Ocean Day

8th June 2011 held at the

Kenyatta public beach, Mombasa

THEME: YOUTH-WAVE OF CHANGE

Betty Sharon, programmes director-CWID giving a speech on importance of protecting the environment.

Background

Celebrations for World Ocean Day (WOD) on 8th of June have been taking place since 1992, when it was first proposed during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, although UN did not fully recognize it until the year 2008. One year later the Kenyan government also officially acknowledged it, thus teamed up the for the first time with Eco Ethics Int.-Kenya, which has been the focal point for WOD activities since 2006 in Kenya; and is presently the secretariat of the organizing committee for Kenya.

WOD brings together various stakeholders of the ocean to learn about the Indian Ocean marine ecosystem as a crucial part of their surrounding environment. It sensitizes the public on the rights and obligations in accessing and protecting the ocean’s resources, teaches school children and youth about environment and the respective government policies and gives artisan fishermen the opportunity to coalesce and reflect on their resource base.

WOD intends to create awareness and mobilize the public, in order to enhance sustainable management of the Ocean.

WOD 2011 (Kenya)

This year (2011), the theme was Youth: the next wave of change. The theme echoes the crucial role played by the youth in bringing positive changes in society. It is hoped that if young people are involved more in solving environmental problems, the interests of future generations will be best served. Therefore conservation efforts should be responsive to societal socio-economic and environmental changes. The face of these changes is the young people.

The World Oceans Day event brought together various stakeholders in appreciation of the Indian Ocean marine ecosystem as an important source of food security and as an important regulator of the climate as well other economic, environmental and recreational benefits. The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international and local communities in connection with the oceans.

The focus was on sensitizing young people including school going children and the out of school group.

The celebrations for this year’s World Ocean Day were split into different activities, some of which were to take place in the week prior to 8th June.

These included cleanup activities, Inter-schools debates centered on exchange of ideas among the young people concerning the marine system, informative talks done by experts in environmental and natural resources, multi-stakeholders’ workshops and rehabilitation of public washrooms. They were meant to educate students from primary, secondary as well as tertiary learning institutions and the out of school persons as well as the community on the importance of the marine ecosystem and mobilizing them for WOD to protect the ocean and combat pollution, degradation& destruction.

The stakeholder forum included the government, civil society & the private sector. They discussed and reflected on chances and responsibilities concerning the Indian Ocean; how to conserve and sustain marine resources and on the other hand satisfy human needs.

Preparations

In order to create an event of national importance the organizing team was composed of all relevant stakeholders. Besides Eco Ethics Int. and the Fisheries Department it involved other government and various civil society institutions including Coast Women in Development, NEMA and Kenya Maritime authority.

For easy coordination of a successful event with thousands of participants, the organizing committee consisted of three different sub-committees. Publicity, Fund-raising & Outreach committees, which were responsible to advertise the event, raise awareness of the public, mobilize resources, plan activities & organize the ceremony.

Fundraising committee

This committee was responsible for mobilizing resources from various sources. The committee comprised of Eco-Ethics, MEWA, the fisheries department, Coast Women in Development, and NEMA. The main sponsor for the event was Eco-Ethics, however, other sponsors of the event to whom we are very much grateful included: Ministry of Fisheries Development, Fina Bank, Saifees Bakery, Fayaz Bakery, Sun and Sand Beach Hotel, Kenya Wildlife Services, Kenya Forestry as well as others. Sponsorship was both in cash and in kind

Outreach Committee

Although members of this sub-committee were hardly 10, they managed to bring together over 1000 participants on June 8th. The team included representatives from Eco-Ethics, CRDO, Fisheries Department; this committee was in charge of mobilizing the participants, organizing for the displays and exhibitions during the main celebration and schools’ competitions.

Publicity committee

This committee took charge of all publicity events such as radio talk-shows, road shows and all the press releases aimed at creating awareness to the public concerning the importance of the day and the need to conserve the ocean life and its resources. We appreciate the great efforts of youth groups under the Mikindani their network.

Events

World Oceans Day began with a procession from Shanzu Teachers’ college in Bamburi to Kenyatta public beach at 9.30 a.m, in attendance were school children from nearby primary and secondary schools accompanied by their patrons, WOD stakeholders, invited guests and Bostal institution boys’ band who led the procession with their beautifully played instruments.

Before the procession commenced, there was registration of participants and guests, then opening remarks by Eco-Ethics representatives, who distributed t-shirts and flagged off the procession. The procession reached Kenyatta Public beach at 11.30. a.m.

The master of ceremony, Mr. Mjuma welcomed everyone and introduced the guests before going through the day’s program.

The beach cleanup started by distribution of gloves and garbage bags. Groups were formed of two per garbage back and each group was to fill their bags before returning them to the major garbage site. It was really amazing to see all the garbage collected from the beach ranging from clothes, bottles, shoes to polythene papers.

There were various exhibitions displayed related with oceans conservation from different organizations present. Eco-Ethics exhibited some of the art and craft from the students and distributed their newsletter and some pamphlets containing more on what have been done and what can be done to conserve the marine eco-system. Other exhibitors included NEMA, Mikindani youth group who showed their new solar power technology.

After the exhibition came the entertainment session from the students and civil societies present they presented skits, poems and songs which were very educative, they highlighted the damages that have been done to the ocean and the marine eco-system through over fishing and pollution and how this has led to degradation and loss of some of the marine resources, including some species of fish, mangrove forests and beaches. They also gave some of the measures that could be taken by the public to preserve our oceans; these included using designated areas to dispose off waste to prevent pollution, moderate fishing, not harvesting the corals and their inhabitants from their habitats.

Students entertaining guests with a poem 1

The public speeches were presented by representatives of the invited organizations, the various stakeholders and the guest of honor their message mainly targeted the students, giving them advice on early marriages, importance of education, reproductive health and what they can do to make sure their lives were fulfilling which would ensure they reach their full potential.

The guest of honor Madam Betty Nzioka, director of communications and environmental education, NEMA, congratulated the participants and the various stakeholders that ensured the success of the day especially Eco-Ethics who were the main organizers. She then presented prizes to the winning participants who mainly the students.

Madam Betty Nzioka presenting a gift to one of the winning students.

The even ended with a word of prayer from a representative of Eco-Ethics and refreshments.

Challenges

• Limitations of resources caused by delay of funds from partners and others never paying up at all

• Lack of proper delegation of duties among the stakeholders

• Poor time management

• Loss of property

Recommendations and suggestions

Proper follow up should be done and on time with organizations that would be offering their donations whether in cash or in kind, this assist in proper budgeting, planning and risk management.

Duties should also be properly delegated and follow up done frequently to prevent overburdening of some of the members and to ensure duties are done efficiently with the intended outcomes.

Management of time is dire especially on the d-day to ensure that all the activities listed are performed effectively; this could be done by putting in some contingencies that cover for time extended.

Loss of property is usually very rampant in any event, designating proper security personnel and measures could greatly reduce the amount of losses.

Report compiled by Martha Otieno.

Coast Women in Development (CWID)