The Youth Leadership Summit in the Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an island state in the North Pacific that is on the front lines of climate change. IOM has been established in the country since 2008, and as a partner of USAID and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), IOM has been enhancing the resilience of communities and supporting disaster risk reduction. Through the CLA approach, IOM has been able to deliver more effective programming and tried new ideas with new partners in response to development challenges in FSM. With the support of USAID BHA, IOM, through the Inclusive Mitigation and Preparedness in Action (IMPACT) project, IOM is supporting college aged students in FSM to become the leaders of tomorrow and pioneers in climate change adaptation. This is being achieved by delivering Youth Leadership Summits across FSM. The summits are a week-long, and students learn about project development and budgeting, climate change adaptation, leadership, communication and working in a team. Students then develop ‘mini-projects’ on climate change adaptation, with the best written ones being financially supported. The hope is that students carry these lessons with them into the future and feel empowered to participate in community decision-making and to contribute to climate change adaptation in their communities and country.