“The State of Children’s Rights in Climate Justice” Conference in Pretoria, South Africa

25 Nov 2025

Last week, the Youth Climate Justice project at UCC and the Centre for Child Law at the University Of Pretoria, Faculty of Law co-hosted an engaging 1-day conference for children and youth across South Africa, and beyond. ⁣⁣

The day opened with keynote speaker Ayakha Melithafa who shared her experience as a plaintiff in the Sacchi v Argentina petition and as the Youth Commissioner for the Presidential Climate Commission. Following her talk, there was a panel discussion on youth climate leadership with young representatives from the Presidential Climate Commission, Save the Children South Africa and Youth Voices for Climate Justice (Terre des Hommes- Africa Lawyers for Human Rights).
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The day also involved an art-based session where participants created their vision of a “climate just future”, then a hybrid session was held with the YCJ Young Advisory Team who shared their experiences from Trinidad to Malaysia. 
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Throughout the day, participants shared personal motivations behind their climate action and discussed strategies for bridging gaps between children and older youth involved in climate and human rights advocacy. Overall, the day was a success filled with new connections and inspiring conversations.
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Thank you to everyone in South Africa who travelled from near and far, and to those who joined online from all over the world. A special thank you to our PhD researcher Liesl Muller for all of the in-person coordination, planning, and hosting that went into this exciting event, and to PhD researcher Emily Murray for hosting online from Ireland.