74
Global
GYDI
Youth
Report
Development
2016 Chapter
Index
3 and Report 2016
\ CS
Young Changemakers
Nolana Lynch
Trinidad and Tobago
Nolana is a social entrepreneur and environmental
activist, whose eco-friendly business venture has
contributed to promoting sustainability in several
Caribbean countries which, along with other small
island countries, are most at risk from the debilitating
impact of climate change.
As a student, Nolana noticed that in her country
vast quantities of nutrient-rich agricultural produce
were going to waste, including millions of mango and
avocado seeds – ideal raw material for producing
nutrient-rich moisturisers and skin creams.
Combining her passion for the environment and
entrepreneurship, Nolana used up all her savings to
create an all-natural skin and hair-care line called EcoTruffles. By using sustainable raw material sourced
from rural women farmers throughout the Caribbean,
Nolana’s enterprise provides a shot in the arm to the
local economy, and also supports the sustainable
development of her local community.
young people are at the forefront of movements
to protest against rising unemployment, job
insecurity, low wages and social inequality.44 In
Europe, young people have collectively agitated
against rising university tuition fees in the past few
years. In Israel, there have been protests about
the lack of affordable housing, while across North
Africa and the Middle East, the lack of employment
opportunities has brought young people out onto
the street in frustration.
Indeed, a focus on protests as a form of youth
participation reveals significant differences in
comparison with the patterns observable in formal
political participation. Since 2011, the world has
witnessed youth-led protests and demonstrations in
almost every part of the world, including in Bahrain,
Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Greece, Hong Kong,
Iceland, India, Iran, Israel, Libya, Pakistan, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria,
Tunisia, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Venezuela.45
These have been ignited by a range of issues, from
growing inequality and corruption in one country
Thanks to the quality of its
products and the values that
underpin the business, in just
under three years Eco-Truffles’
customer base has grown to
include retailers, hotels, spas
and restaurants across the
Caribbean. A big share of Eco-Truffles’ profits goes
back into the community to support underprivileged
families and children, or as scholarships that enable
young women to get an education.
Nolana was named Commonwealth Young Person
of the Year for the Caribbean and Americas Region
in 2015, and has served as the national co-ordinator
of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network. She
believes that ‘whenever there is collaboration among
young people, there is a higher chance of bringing
about positive development’.
to authoritarianism and abuse of human rights
in another. Some of these protests have led to
genuine transformation, such as the overthrow of
long-standing regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. In other
cases, youth-led protests have triggered further
repression or deepened schisms in society. In parts
of Africa, young people are less likely than their
elders to participate in demonstrations, partly due to
a fear of police reprisals.46
Young people are also using creative methods to
empower their peers and boost youth participation.
Some are doing it through art and music, for
example; others via entrepreneurship; and in some
of the most traditional societies in the world, young
people – and young women, in particular – are doing
it by imparting leadership training and mobilising
communities to push for change. (See ‘Young
Changemakers’ above.)
Young people are increasingly also resorting to
‘political consumerism’, especially in high income
and developed countries, to express their ethical
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