THE SMALL EARTH NEPAL

21 December 2013

On the occasion of Global Day of Action, The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) organized a One-Day exhibition and competition of articles prepared from discarded matters at Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu on Saturday, 21 December. The program was supported by the Solid Waste Management Technical Support Center, Ministry of Local development and WWF Nepal.

More than ten thousand people observed the exhibition. The exhibition provided the platform for children to show their talent, skills and creativeness as well as to build their capacity for public speaking. It was also an opportunity for the schools to share knowledge regarding solid waste management. The articles made by the students not only attracted the visitors but also inspired them to adopt the 3R (Reuse, Recycle and Reduce) principle.

The objective of the program was to sensitize the students and public on efficient waste disposal methods and encourage them to recycle and reuse to minimize the generation of waste from their houses, schools and offices. It also aimed to aspire for behavioural changes in children and the people leading them towards possible ways of solid waste management to minimize GHG emission in small scale. Moreover, it was a call for action to the world leaders meeting at the climate negotiation i.e COP18 which is ongoing at Doha, Qatar, delivering the key message “It’s high time to take action for climate and climate justice from ground level”.

The Global Day of Action on climate change occurs every year on the first Saturday of annual meeting of Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). People from all around the world come together on that day to demand urgent action on climate change, and climate justice, from the governments of the world meeting at the annual climate talks. To remark this day with a demonstration, 20 schools of Kathmandu Valley presented various decorative and useful items prepared from discarded materials with the theme “Best from Waste: Childrens’ Move for Climate Action.”

The closing ceremony was held at the end of the program which was facilitated by Mr. Topa Ram Acharya, Officer at Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre (SWMTSC) and Ms. Kabita Gautam, Program Coordinator at SEN. The ceremony was chaired by Dr. Sumitra Amatya, Executive Director of SWMTSC and Mr. Kishore Thapa, Secretary at Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) graced the program as the Chief Guest. Mr. Laxman Aryal, Chief  Executive officer of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Mr. Sudarshan Rajbhandari, Vice President at SEN, were also present at the ceremony. The welcome speech was given by Mr. Topa Ram Acharya, officer at SWMTSC and followed by the announcement of the winner schools by Mr. Rajbhandari.

First: Everest English School, Bhaktapur

Second: Vinayak Sikshya Niketan, Bhaktapur

Third: Sunshine National School, Bhaktapur

Consolation: Panga Secondary School, Kirtipur

The award and certificates to winner schools and other participants were distributed by the Chief Guest. At the end of the program, Dr. Amatya acknowledged all the participants and those who had helped in the successful execution of the program. She added that the program would be continued in the coming years too.