By Maria Chacin
Edgewood College senior Natasha Sichula, Dominican leader and women’s health advocate, was among a group of 100 students selected to attend the first-ever United Nations Youth Climate Summit, receiving a UN sponsorship, or a “Green Ticket,” to participate. There were over 7,000 applicants.
The UN Youth Climate Summit “is a platform for young leaders who are driving climate action to showcase their solutions at the United Nations, and to meaningfully engage with decision-makers on the defining issue of our time,” according to the UN website. It will take place on Sept. 21 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Those given a “Green Ticket” receive “funded travel as carbon-neutral as possible” and were selected “based on their demonstrated commitment to addressing the climate crisis and advancing solution,” says the website.
Sichula said she is honored and humbled by the opportunity. “This honor has shown me that I shouldn’t be afraid to share my passions with the world because someone will always be there to lend a helping hand or recognize my contribution to helping those.”
Sichula looks forward to meeting all the young leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators attending. She is especially excited to meet Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager that created the Worldwide Movement “Climate Strikes.”
Sichula expects to be part of all the opportunities that the event has to offer, such as live-stream panels and the TED-style talks that will be transmitted across UN and Multimedia Platforms. She also hopes to form partnerships and open more opportunities for her project Her Empowerment Race Zone (HERZ).
According to the HERZ Facebook page, the movement is one “for girls that encompasses Mentorship, Volunteerism, Scholarship and Innovation to eradicate period poverty.” Sichula said her efforts with the movement aided in her earning a “Green Ticket.”
Through HERZ, Sichula raises awareness about the effects of disposable menstrual products and advocates for replacing them with reusable cloth pads. HERZ also teaches high school girls from developing economies how to make the reusable cloth pads.
Sichula cited the Journal of Microbiology and said that “in every women’s lifetime, she uses between 5,000 and 14,000 tampons, which have adverse effects on the environment.”
“Knowing that it takes over 1,000 years for plastic to decompose, I believe that it’s every woman’s duty to learn about her carbon footprint and see how she can make a difference in keeping mother Earth healthy,” she added.
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