Today we’re excited to share a guest post by Olatoun Gabi-Williams, founder of Borders: Literature for all Nations. She has been closely following developments at COP27 and is passionate about creating a wealth of resources on sustainable development for younger readers in Africa.   

by Olatoun Gabi-Williams

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 27, was held this year in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, North Africa. It ran from November 6^th – 18^th, and Sophia Kianni, the youngest United Nations Advisor, spoke passionately during the program. She is a truly inspirational voice and role model not only for young people but for us all. Children, she explained, are the most vulnerable.

At the African Chapter of the UN SDG Book Club, our business is children and young adults.

If only our young ones would mobilize themselves! They can change Africa. Not only Africa, they can change the world – beginning now in the Decade of Action on the SDGs. But without that visceral understanding to fire them up, the cause of climate action will, I fear, be stillborn in an African youth population which, as it continues to boom, stands in a wildly disproportionate ratio to its adult counterpart. Right now, more than 60% of Africa’s population is under the age of 25. By 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youth. Incredible isn’t it?

I have put together 3 resources about climate change for Reading Africa Week: a short story; a factual articles; and a reading list from the SDG Book Club Africa Chapter.

Firstly, “Rain, Rain, Go Away” is a short story written by 16-year-old Jethro Nyam Orfega. Jethro lives in Benue State, North-Central Nigeria and attends Christ Apostolic Church Secondary School, Benue State. This short story won the SDG 13 (Climate Action) category of the 17 Stories Prize, an SDG initiative launched by our partner, the Nigeria Volunteers Network (NVN) led by Vincent Odigie. 

“The destruction of today’s flooding is unimaginable. This is so serious. All my maize has been wiped away. What can I do now?” Aju complained but there was no one around to listen to his plight. This was the second time that such heavy rain would fall. The people were scared because the season had just begun. It was not heard of in the last century around here.

Read the full story here.

Second, we have an article by SDG Book Club Africa’s author, Godfred Edusei Derkyi.  In this article, the Ghanaian writer of children’s books provides insights into the clean energy vs fossil fuels debate from an African perspective. The article published on multiple platforms targets adults and bright readers aged 12 years +. You can read it here.

And finally, the reading list published by SDG Book Club Africa. Children and educators can pick up a copy of one or more of our wonderful titles, like The Garbage School by Dr. Abdullahi Ismaila or Keza and the Green City written by Fonerwa, the Green City Kigali Team & illustrated by Mika Hirwa Twizerimana. You can find the reading list here.

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Olatoun Gabi-Williams is a Nigeria-based journalist, publicist, child welfare advocate, elder care and dementia advocate, public speaker, administrator, and non-profit founder. Read more about her here. In 2015, she founded Borders Literature for all Nations which in 2021 joined United Nations Namibia and 5 pan-African Book industry institutions to establish the UN SDG Book Club African Chapter. To get away and really rest, she would love to visit a luxurious resort in one of Africa’s island nations and recline in a gazebo enjoying that lovely, salty ocean breeze.