Dubai student joins UN women’s panel

Kehkashan Basu, 16, an Indian grade 12 student at Deira International School, participated in a panel that included young women from around the world, as part of the UN’s Summer Youth Assembly in New York.

Kehkashan Basu at the UN in New York city. Courtesy Kehkashan Basu

DUBAI // A Dubai student last week took part in a United Nations panel on young women’s leadership roles in sustainable development.

Kehkashan Basu, 16, an Indian grade 12 pupil at Deira International School, joined a panel comprised of young women from around the world, as part of the UN’s Summer Youth Assembly in New York.

“I live in Dubai, which is surrounded by some of the fiercest deserts of the world and we face the impacts of climate change at its harshest every day,” Kehkashan told the panel on Friday.

“In order for young girls and young women to remain at the centre of the youth development agenda, we need to design a gender responsive climate action plan which empowers women and strengthens gender equality through climate action.”

Kehkashan founded the environmental youth group Green Hope, which she said had 400 members in the UAE.

At the panel, she also talked about young people’s views on the environment. “The youth today are aghast at the escalating rate of environment degradation as a consequence of climate change, and we’re extremely concerned that future generations are at a risk of inheriting a barren planet which cannot sustain its inhabitants,” she said.

She also discussed the importance of gender equality. “This is why we still have heroes instead of ‘she-roes’,” said Kehkashan. “It’s time for us to stop being burnt alive for dowry, getting acid thrown in our faces, or getting shot in the head because we want to go to school.”