New Delhi : The Brahma Kumaris at UNCCD (The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) started the day with a CSO (Civil Society Organizations) meeting.
There was a CSO intervention on the theme “Value-based land stewardship”. BK Shantanu’s input laid the foundation for the preparation of the statement. There was a meeting of youth delegates with UNEP ( United Nations Environment Programme) Executive Director Ms. Inger Anderson. It was a very small group, specifically the youth constituency, with some observers such as BK Aneta and a few others. BK Shantanu and BK Parul were amongst the youth constituency. BK Shantanu made an intervention and also raised a question. The intervention was to incentivize efforts of youth on all levels for youth; his question was, “What values in the inner world of an individual does UNEP in particular consider to change the outer world?” Ms. Inger in her reply first mentioned that yes, incentivizing can be a great model to keep the energy of youth freely flowing for longer durations, but the mode of incentives can be different given the context of the place and people. She further added that the question is really a very deep one and one must consider its importance because it is with values that actions have any meaning. The values that UN in general endorses are of equity, respect and unity. So UNEP too works on this model and encourages efforts that strengthen these values in individuals and community. She also said, “I thank you for putting this question on the floor because when there is failure in one’s efforts, it is these values that bring us back to action, and so one must make the foundation of values stronger and deeper. Recharge your batteries every day because the task is huge and the path is rough.”
After this event there was a luncheon with HLS (High Level Segment) hosted by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program). In this event many CEOs, ministers, world leaders, and heads of delegations were present. There were youth constituency members also present. BK Aneta, Head of the BK delegation, was present and also BK Shantanu, who prepared the interventions that were to be made by the Youth Representative in the session. The Panel included Ms. Inger Anderson (UNEP Executive Director), Mr. Tim Chirstophersen (Coordinator, UNEP for Land, Water & Climate), Ms. Naoko Ishii (CEO GEF), Ms. Yugratna Shrivastava (Global Focal Point for YOUNGO, and Youth Caucus UNCCD). Ideas were coming from every corner to make the upcoming decade of UNEP successful.
Later BK Aneta met in person with Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, CSO Leader, Indigenous Peoples Activist from Chad, and Tim Chirstophersen.
BK John Ndiritu attended a Technology Fair presentation by GIZ (German Development Agency) on digitalization approaches to foster the urban-rural nutrient and carbon cycle by enabling farmers in rural areas to efficiently obtain organic fertilizer from wastewater treatment works in urban areas.
Later that day, BK John Ndiritu attended the Day of Action for Land at the Rio Pavilion where the 2019 Land for Life winner and three previous winners spoke and made presentations. John Ndiritu enquired about the severity of sedimentation in the catchment and at a recently constructed dam, and was informed that it is not significant at this point in time.
There was a delegation of the Polish government attending the HLS negotiations. They were first met by BK Aneta and then they visited the BK booth where BK Ndiritu introduced all BK activities and BK Swati shared green blessings.
In the evening, many delegates were taken to Happy Farm. After learning how yogic farming is different from organic farming, they were very happy to try some meditation themselves. So a beautiful meditation was conducted for them. Over the entire day nearly 50 people visited the BK booth.
Mr. Tim Chirstophersen visited Happy Farm and spent an hour with the BK delegation, who told him about all the UN initiatives where BKs are active members. He was surprised to see the massive work of the BKs in all sectors, particularly in renewable energy and yogic farming. He expressed his happiness after a sweet meditation conducted by BK Aneta and felt refreshed on the farm. He informed that he would be keenly looking forward to BK’s cooperation in preparation for the guidelines of the UNEP Decade for Restoration of Ecosystems.
BK Aneta had a presentation on “Science and Spirituality: 24-hour solar power generation” in the TECH Fair in the Exhibition area, which was very well attended. Many delegates from the audience expressed their willingness to visit the India One solar thermal plant and some showed more interest in learning meditation. After the presentation, BK Aneta gave a short interview for PIB India on Twitter (Press Information Bureau, a nodal agency for communicating to media on behalf of the Government of India).
BK Parul and BK Swati attended a side event organized by UNDP India. The plenary was decorated with some very unusual dignitaries, “the rag pickers,” as UNDP India had a stall that had many innovations done from plastic waste. The CEO, Mr. Sodhi (who later visited the BK booth), said that the idea behind bringing the waste pickers as delegates is that they must be heard and their voices are also the voices of the vulnerable ones who are indirectly or directly affected by climate change. The waste / rag pickers showed their views in very timid yet heart-touching ways. One of them said that “I am not educated at all, but I feel surprised to see how educated people make mistakes in mixing dry waste and wet waste together.”
BK Parul attended another workshop, organized by Plant for the Planet. The key message was that there are 3 trillion trees in the world, and we all can grow another 1 trillion trees. So they encouraged all to take part in the campaign and contribute to trillion trees plantation; those trees would have identity marked in GPS and so there would be the proper accountability of the efforts. She also put her interventions in the open dialogues where she said that even though there is awareness about the importance of plantation, yet there is less effort. She bridged the gap by saying that lack of self-awareness leads youth to use their vital energy in unnecessary activities, whereas those who are self-aware and understand their true potential, they simply use it in the right direction, hence self-awareness and a value-based lifestyle is important for bringing any noble mission to success.
John Ndiritu attended the Drought Preparedness Day at the Rio Pavilion. The event was opened by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, after which addresses were made by the South African Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and by highly placed officials of several international organizations (FAO, GWP, UN-Water, Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre, and Africa Risk Capacity). An all-women panel on drought resilience was moderated by Ms. Samia Nkrumah, the President of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre, Ghana, with speakers Ms. Caroline King-Okumu, a researcher in Ecology and Hydrology from Kenya; Ms. Hindou Ibrahim, an Environmental Activist from Chad; and Ms. Lorena Revelo, Vice Minister, Foreign Affairs, Costa. John Ndiritu later met with Ms. Samia Nkrumah, introducing the Brahma Kumaris as a global women-led organization and informing her about BK environmental activities. She said that she meditates and it is obvious to her that positive mind power definitely improves crop yield as studies on yogic farming show.
A drought tool box developed jointly by several agencies (UNCCD, FAO, GWP, WMO, UNEP-DHI, JRC, and NDMC) was launched and demonstrated.
During the day, BK Swati and others attended to delegates coming to the booth; total visitors were more than 60.
BK Aneta and BK John took a few guests to Happy Farm. After a guided tour there was a powerful meditation session conducted by BK Aneta. One of the delegates Mr. Emmanuel Seck, CSO leader from Senegal, member of the core CSO team at UNCD COP14, liked it very much, became relaxed and refreshed after a very intense day, and said he would like to learn more about meditation.
Guests from Chad, China, Guinea Conakry, Iran, Korea, Mauritania, Senegal, South Africa, Togo and Uganda joined us for our evening reception. There was a very homely atmosphere, as there were virtue games, nourishing chit-chats and refreshing vegan food. BK Vivek and BK Asha transformed their house into a beautiful garden with love, care and open hearts. BK Parul invited the guests for some joyful raas and bhangra and BK Raghav played flute. Later, BK Aneta conducted a meditation for everyone to connect to the source of peace and happiness. There were gifts and blessings sharing. Some VIPs who attended the dinner were Ms. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, activist for indigenous peoples, from Chad; Mr. John from Future Forest, Korea; Mr. Emmanuel Seck, CSO leader from Senegal; Ms. Jiajia, CSO leader from China, and several others.
