HELP AYAKHA REPRESENT AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
3 January 2020
Ayakha Melithafa, a 17 year old climate justice activist from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, South Africa, and spokesperson/recruitment officer for African Climate Alliance Youth has been invited to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland from 19-24 January 2020. There she will represent the youth of South Africa on a number of panels with world-renowned youth climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The Forum brings together stakeholders to help address the greatest ecological crisis of our time and enables leaders to deepen their understanding of complex issues, shape new models and standards and drive scalable, collaborative action for systemic change.
Despite the fact that the World Economic Forum is covering her airfare and hotel accommodation, there are many peripheral costs associated with the trip that Ayakha cannot afford. As a result, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched to cover these extra expenses.
There is not much time – Ayakha leaves for Davos on the 18th January 2020! We appeal to friends, family, civil society organisations and champions of the climate crisis cause, to ensure that Ayakha is armed with the necessary tools to allow her the best possible experience at Davos, and that she is able to focus on delivering her powerful message to world leaders.
More about Ayakha
Ayakha is a Grade 11 student at the Centre of Science and Technology in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, South Africa. She works as a recruitment official and spokesperson for the African Climate Alliance, a youth-led climate advocacy group that organised the #climatestrike protests in Cape Town in collaboration with more than a million youths around the world. She is also a graduate of Project 90 by 2030’s YouLead Initiative.
This fierce young woman has called for an immediate moratorium on the extraction of coal, oil and gas in South Africa and she recently made headlines when she joined Greta Thunberg and other teens from across the world in petitioning the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to hold five of the world’s leading economic powers accountable for inaction on the climate crisis.
Ayakha will be on a number of panels in Davos with Greta Thunberg, addressing key issues on creating a sustainable, low carbon future. For Ayakha, Davos is an opportunity to bring the voice of South African youth, who will be some of the most affected by climate breakdown, to the global climate crisis discussion. She also hopes to inspire social and climate activism in her community back home; put pressure on big emitters to stop blocking global climate action; exert pressure on South Africa to reduce its own emissions and plan a just transition; and encourage South African leaders and policy makers to lead Africa in pushing the world towards ambitious climate action.
She is the first youth representative from South Africa – from Khayelitsha! – to attend the World Economic Forum and it is the first year that this forum has invited a youth contingent to this event.
Since Ayakha is from a poor farming community in the Eastern Cape, she lacks the necessary resources to travel to Davos. Although the World Economic Forum is covering her airfare and hotel accommodation, there are many peripheral costs associated with the trip that are not covered. By contributing to her crowdfunding campaign you would assist with:
Visa fees
Travel Insurance
Costs from the Eastern Cape to Cape Town and back and food in Davos itself, and a stipend for the 6 nights she will be in Switzerland.
A laptop,smartphone and data (she currently struggles with accessing the internet due to no funds for data and does not own a laptop or appropriate phone)
Some warm clothes for the very cold Switzerland winter
Help Ayakha, and the voice of South African youth, get to Davos by contributing to her crowdfunding campaign today.
