GLASGOW – Delegates from Kazakhstan Diana Gamazova and Sofiya Gamazova, who represent the Central Asian region, won the Best Art Piece of COY16 and Artsy Delegate of COY16 prizes at the UN Climate Change Conference of Youth (COY16), which took place Oct.28-31 before the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.
Diana Gamazova and Sofiya Gamazova.
The Gamazova sisters held the MaskBook masterclass and delivered lectures about Kazakhstan’s national reserves.
Sofiya, who wants to become an animator, also presented her paintings titled “My Green Planet” and “Animals are My Friends.” The works were on display at ArtSpace during the youth conference, and now the pictures are on view at the Kazakh pavilion at the COP26.
Sofiya Gamazova’s works at the exhibition.
Being a true environmentalist Diana couldn’t miss the chance to share her vision with the like-minded people at the conference. “It was my initiative to propose the project, which I also organized in my city, when I found an ad for COY16 and their masterclass program on Instagram recommendations. It turned out that my masterclass was among the first five selected out of 300 applications. My family and I were incredibly happy,” said Diana.
Diana’s project shows how people can share opinions or deliver a message through a mask, which is a symbol of air pollution, and now a pandemic. “We use recyclable materials including fruit nets, cloth scraps, bottle caps and other things,” explained Diana. “The project aims to unite people to convey their feelings about the planet, their anxiety for the future through their mask.”
Country coordinator at COY16 Nadira Mukhamejan, who represented Kazakhstan at the conference, strongly believes that “awareness-raising and education are crucial to advancing youth participation in environmental decision-making.”
According to Ms. Mukhamejan, the conference serves as a platform to raise awareness about temperature increase in Central Asia. It is also important to talk about the Aral Sea catastrophe. “This issue should be resolved at the global level. We must talk about this problem and attract attention to avoid such situations in the future,” she added.
Nadira Mukhamejan.
Ms. Mukhamejan worked at the UNESCO Сhair on water resources management in Central Asia and now is pursuing her Master’s degree on International Security, Intelligence, and Strategic Studies.
“My working experience made me re-evaluate the human-nature relationship, and now I am passionate about water and climate security in the region… I am glad that the countries in Central Asia act together and prepare a common statement at the summit,” Ms. Mukhamejan said in an interview for this story.
As a coordinator Ms. Mukhamejan cooperated with universities and youth organizations to create a national youth statement that will be a part of the global one.
“The great thing is that the whole conference is organized by young activists from different countries, starting from the program plan, attracting speakers and sponsors, and organizing logistics. This professional community is responsible not only for promoting youth voices, but they can also make decisions and organize global events,” she said.
Ms. Mukhamejan shares the publications about their activities on @coy16.kazakhstan on Instagram.
