Guyana makes a vast contribution to climate change mitigation thanks to standing rainforests that encompass over 80% of its surface and absorb carbon emissions.

The problem

However, central Guyana’s Amerindian populations, who act as primary 'custodians' for the rainforest, significantly lack healthcare, nutritional food, safe water and sanitation.

The solution

To ensure continued protection of the forest as a means of mitigating climate change, a project was designed aiming at improving health, hygiene and environmental management among Amerindian populations. A child-to-child educational programme engages with, and empowers, Amerindian children as stewards of the rainforest region. This programme links healthy lifestyles through hygiene education with local action to protect and preserve the environment. It also promotes environmental awareness through child-to-child educational programmes between Amerindian children and children in the developed world, which focus on the importance of protecting standing rainforests.

Name of organization: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
E-mail: education@unicef.org
Website: www.unicef.org