‘We are the present’: Tajik climate activist urges leaders to include youth voices in dialogue

At the end of April, Fariza Dzhobirova attended a Model United Nations Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, where she represented Switzerland.

For Ms. Dzhobirova, it was a rehearsal of sorts for the actual High-level Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation which began on Thursday in Dushanbe. There, she will serve as a panel member representing her own country.

“The [Model UN] conference gave me a platform to raise my voice, collaborate with like-minded peers from across the region and develop policy recommendations that we hope will influence real-world decisions,” she said.

The High-level Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation, hosted by the Government of Tajikistan and supported by variety of United Nations agencies, will work to underline the extreme urgency of melting glaciers, elevating it as a global climate and development challenge. 

Will glaciers survive the 21st century? 

Glaciers, alongside ice sheets, account for over 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources and are integral to many local economies, providing water, sustaining agriculture and generating energy. 

However, due to the increasing temperature of the planet, glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates – scientists predict that if the current rate of melting continues, many glaciers will not survive the 21st century.

In Tajikistan alone, 30 per cent of glaciers have disappeared over the last century, disrupting local and national water supplies and agricultural patterns. And Slovenia and Venezuela have lost all their glaciers.

Just yesterday, one day before the conference was set to begin, a partial glacier collapse in Switzerland buried most of a small village, according to news reports.

“The death of a glacier is more than just the loss of ice,” said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

Youth voices are the present and the future

Before the conference, Parviz Boboev from the UN ountry team in Tajikistan sat down with Ms. Dzhobirova to discuss what motivates her climate activism. 

Fariza Dzhobirova, a young climate activist from Tajikistan, represents Switzerland at a Model United Nations conference on glacier preservation.

Fariza Dzhobirova, a young climate activist from Tajikistan, represents Switzerland at a Model United Nations conference on glacier preservation.

Parviz Boboev: What inspired you to get involved in the climate movement?

Fariza Dzhobirova: Growing up in Tajikistan, where more than 90% of our freshwater comes from glaciers, I’ve seen how climate change is already impacting people’s lives. Rivers are shrinking, water is becoming less accessible, and natural disasters like landslides and floods are affecting more and more communities.

I’ve met a family who lost their home because of mudflow. I saw a teenage girl from that family of the same age as me that had totally different problems because of this climate-related disaster. I was thinking about my classes. She was thinking about how to survive.

My message is that young people are not just the future — we are the present, and we are ready to contribute today

And I know there are many examples similar to this – farmers whose land can no longer be irrigated and children whose futures are at risk. Seeing this pain and injustice made it impossible for me to stay silent or uninvolved.

Participating in the upcoming Glaciers’ Preservation conference means a lot to me. It’s about raising the voices of people who are often left out of global discussions. For me, it’s a chance to speak on behalf of my generation and my country, and to show that young people are ready to be part of the solution.

Parviz Boboev: What message do you hope to share at the conference about the impact of climate change on your community and generation?

Fariza Dzhobirova: Being invited to speak is a great responsibility for me. It’s a chance to represent not only Tajikistan, but the voice of a generation.

My message is that young people are not just the future — we are the present, and we are ready to contribute today. Climate change is not only about the environment — it’s about how we live, how we work, how we learn. It affects our opportunities, our mental health, our ability to plan for the future. And yet, many young people are still excluded from decision-making processes.

At the conference, I want to encourage leaders and policymakers to truly listen not just to the facts and data, but to the experiences and hopes of young people. When you give youth a platform, you don’t just invest in their potential — you strengthen the resilience and sustainability of entire communities.

Parviz Boboev: Youth voices are becoming increasingly important in global climate conversations. How do you see the role of young people in shaping solutions?

Fariza Dzhobirova: I truly believe that young people have a unique role to play in shaping more just, inclusive and forward-looking climate solutions. We bring fresh ideas, the courage to question outdated systems and a strong sense of responsibility for the future.

In countries like Tajikistan, where glaciers are directly connected to people’s livelihoods, youth are already stepping up. What we need now is more trust and investment in young people. We don’t expect to solve everything alone, but we do hope to be included — in dialogue, in decision-making, and in designing real solutions.

Protecting glaciers and water resources is not just a technical challenge; it’s a human one. By working together — across generations and borders — we can make our region stronger, more resilient, and more united in the face of climate change.

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‘Silence is complicity,’ warns activist who fled DPR Korea

When they eventually did, her mother said to her, “If you are going to die anyway, better to be shot crossing the two-mile border than starve here.”

Shortly thereafter they fled from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea.

Ms. Kim gave testimony to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday during a meeting convened to discuss human rights abuses and violations in DPRK: “The human rights situation in the country has been of grave concern for years, and, in many respects, is deteriorating,” Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, told delegates.

The representative from DPRK denounced the meeting, insisting that the information presented was a “fabrication.”

Wide-ranging abuses

North Koreans have been forced to exist in “absolute isolation” for many years, according to UN Special Rapporteur on human rights for the country, Elizabeth Salmón.

The independent UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert said this isolation has exacerbated the impact of multiple rights violations which include forced labour systems, infringement on freedom of expression and movement, torture and the forced disappearance of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The DPRK has also denied entry to humanitarian aid despite UN data which suggests that it is desperately needed – 11.8 million people, or 45 per cent of the population, are estimated to be undernourished and more than half the population lacks adequate sanitation.

Instead of social services, Pyongyang has prioritized militarisation, exacerbating human rights violations, said the Special Rapporteur.

“As the DPRK expands its extreme militarization policies, it exacerbates the extensive reliance on forced labour and quota systems, showing how peace, security and human rights are strongly interrelated,” Ms. Salmón said.

‘Please do not turn away’

Ms. Kim pleaded with delegates and UN officials to take action.

Please do not turn away from the innocent lives being lost in North Korea and elsewhere. Silence is complicity,” she said.

Ms. Kehris noted that the international community has taken many steps in past decades to address ongoing human rights abuses in the DPRK but that these actions have failed the change the status quo.

“Given the gravity and scale of the violations, and inability or unwillingness of the [DPRK] to pursue accountability, international accountability options must be considered, including referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court,” she said.

Despite such challenges, the senior official did note that Pyongyang has shown “increased willingness” to engage with her office, OHCHR.

In September, OHCHR is due to present a report to the Human Rights Council which will make new proposals on improving the situation.

In her remarks, Ms. Salmón insisted that long-term accountability for the DPRK must go hand in hand with peace.

“Peace is a foundation for human rights. Human rights cannot thrive without peace. In this rapidly developing political climate, we must act together to prevent geopolitical tensions from destabilizing the Korean Peninsula,” she said.

Hope for the future

It has been more than 25 years since Ms. Kim fled: “One day, I hope to return to North Korea, hand in hand with my daughters, to show them a North Korea not defined by control and fear but filled with freedom and hope,” she said.

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