Recognizing Members Of The Utah International Mountain Forum
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Samuel Elzinga, Damon Ashcraft, and Andrew Jensen, members of the Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University, on their recent success at the High-Level…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Samuel Elzinga, Damon Ashcraft, and Andrew Jensen, members of the Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University, on their recent success at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on July 19, 2018 in New York. During general debates at that global forum, they highlighted the importance of advocating for mountain communities, who are among the most impoverished and forgotten communities globally. They demonstrated student engaged learning, one of UVU's core philosophies, by planning every aspect of the trip, while Dr. Baktybek Abdrisaev, a UVU faculty member, served them as a mentor to guide them through their endeavors. Through this engaged learning model, Samuel, Andrew, and Damon engaged also such non-governmental organization registered with the ECOSOC as the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Mountain Institute, and Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development and Cooperation. As a result, those NGOs provided them an opportunity to make an oral and written statement, highlighting the state of Utah as a model for sustainable mountain development. Utah is consistently ranked as one of the best states for doing business and has some of the fastest growing communities in the country. I am very proud they highlighted how students are able and have to be counted as contributors to sustainable development both in Utah and mountain communities worldwide. Below is their oral statement, which was presented during ECOSOC's general debate on July 19, 2018:
Mountain Targets Implementations Through Student Engaged Learning
We thank the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for
allowing us to speak in support of mountain communities, who
are among the poorest and most-neglected globally. Climate
change and migration make their living conditions even worse.
According to a recent study by the FAO-UN and the Mountain
Partnership (MP) Secretariat, an estimated 39 percent of the
mountain population in developing countries are vulnerable to
food insecurity. From 2000 to 2012, there was a 30-percent
increase in the number of mountain people vulnerable to food
insecurity, with their population only increasing by 16
percent.
Two SDGs under the review of this forum contain three
mountain targets and it must address the challenges facing
mountain communities: Target 6.6: by 2020, protect and
restore water related ecosystems, including mountains, . . .;
Target 15.1: by 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration
and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater
ecosystems and their services, in particular . . . mountains
and drylands. . . .; Target 15.4: by 2030, ensure the
conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their
biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide
benefits that are essential for sustainable development.
Since 2007, Utah Valley University, with the support of the
Mountain Partnership, involves students, including
nontraditional ones, in the implementation of mountain
targets. Members of the Utah International Mountain Forum
(UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU, gain
professional skills through an engaged learning model by
addressing real-world problems of mountain communities with a
faculty serving them as a mentor.
UIMF members have already advocated for the mountain women
during the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of
Women. Students, jointly with their Kyrgyz peers, reported
about hosting the International Women of the Mountains
conferences as an implementation of the UN Resolution
``International Year of Mountains, 2002.'' The 2016 UN
Secretary-General's Report on Sustainable Mountain
Development featured recommendations provided by UIMF in the
latest conference document about the role women play in
implementation of two mountain targets. Through the model
students raised and contributed $250,000 to the mountain
targets adoption and implementation.
The model demonstrates that students are able and must play
an active role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. It can be used by universities in
rural and mountainous states worldwide to provide similar
benefits to students, and to transform mountain communities
towards sustainable and resilient societies.