The Power of a Child’s Voice

Born and raised in Vancouver, Severn Suzuki has been working on environmental and social justice issues since kindergarten. At age 9, she and some friends started the Environmental Children"s Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They traveled to 1992"s UN Earth Summit, where 12 year-old Severn gave this powerful speech that deeply affected (and silenced) some of the most prominent world leaders. The speech had such an impact that she has become a frequent invitee to many UN conferences.

I encourage you to watch this with your favorite youth and use it as a valuable source of engagement for the power of voice for change. Promise the Children offers a program in lobby skills to youth in Massachusetts every April that teaches this very concept. Keep an eye open for the workbook soon to be up on our website that will help adults to bring this program to every state. As adults we need to pass on the knowledge for the power of voice for change.

To view the powerful clip of Severn Suzuki at the United Nations, please go to: KarmaTube: The Girl Who Silenced the World at the UN