In fact, youth are becoming news makers on tv, radio and in print.

Giving youth the tools to be journalists makes sure that the news is heard from our perspective even though it is usually reserved for adults.  We ask different questions, we see different concerns, and we write different stories.  Youth journalism allows young voices to be heard and gives young people an opportunity to be active participants in the world around them.

Check out these youth journalists who are using their voices and skills to make sure that we’re both seen and heard!

Members of a child media group in Sri Lanka making a movie about water issues in their community.

One of eleven Plan-supported young journalists from across the globe who attended the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (12 – 19 December 2009) to grill world leaders on their plans to tackle climate change.

Girl in Peru interviews another girl for a regional radio show produced by youth where they can openly talk about their rights, express their views and conduct interviews on topics important to them.

Meet Beatrice.  She’s spent the last couple of weeks telling the world about climate change as one of Plan International’s young reporters currently in Copenhagen at the UN Climate Change Conference.  Way to go, Beatrice!

For a second, we’ll get her to step out from behind her video camera (check out some of the interviews done by the Children in a Changing Climate)  and tell us her story.

Beatrice is only 13, but a force to be reckoned with, interviewing world leaders and decision makers that are meeting at the Copenhagen conference.  Her reasons for getting involved?  She says,

“I am looking forward to the day when all the people will understand better use of resources and change the climate for better. We are the future leaders and if we understand the effects of climate change now, later in life we can save our countries.”

She has joined other girls, like Busra from Sweden and Annie from the UK to make sure that the right questions get asked in the fight to save this planet.  But I’m sure that when she gets home to Kenya, she won’t stop her quest to help others understand more about climate change.

Check out the team’s reports from Copenhagen here.

Climate change causes “shorter, unpredictable rainy seasons, severe typhoons, hurricanes and floods, long-lasting droughts, and repeatedly failed harvests.”

So what does this mean for women and girls?

It sounds simple, but a big issue for women and girls around the world is time.  What I mean is that the amount of time spent preparing food and managing the household can have a big impact on whether girls are able to go to school, get a job or get medical care.  Without electricity or running water, women often spend a big chunk of their day getting firewood and hauling water.

Climate change can have a big impact on the time women spend getting supplies:

• Deforestation caused by climate change means that women have to travel farther to get enough wood.
• When water supplies are contaminated through climate change, women have to travel farther to a clean water source and are often at risk of getting water-borne diseases.

We want them to come up with a good plan at Copenhagen, so that we can try to stop the negative impact of climate change on our neighbourhoods and communities around the world.  If you would like to get involved in making sure that this plan is the best possible for women and girls, you can:

• Follow Plan’s young journalists blogging from Copenhagen
• Tweet, FB, and comment about what you want from the agreement at Copenhagen

Stay tuned for my next post when I look at some of the women who are representing us girls in Copenhagen this week!  They rock!