The Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has engaged students to educate them on the need to play active roles in taking up initiatives to protect the environment.

The engagement, held in partnership with Fidelity Bank Ghana, was in line with this year’s World Environment Day celebration on the theme “Protecting Our Environment: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”

It was part of the NCCE’s Climate Action Awareness initiative that sought to promote civic education and community participation in environmental protection within some selected districts.

The acting Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal NCCE Director, Yusif Usman, speaking at the event, said the engagement was to inculcate civic responsibility among the students as enshrined in the constitution so they could respond to Ghana’s climate challenges, plastic waste, poor sanitation, and deforestation.

According to him, climate change was one of the most pressing challenges in recent times, with direct impacts on the environment, economy, and public health.

He noted that Ghana’s Constitution, thus, mandated all citizens to undertake sustainable initiatives that would protect and safeguard the environment; hence, the essence of educating young people on their roles in that regard.

Mr. Usman said, “Issues such as indiscriminate plastic waste disposal, deforestation, poor sanitation, and rising temperatures are causing both immediate and long-term harm to our ecosystems and vulnerable communities, and so our Constitution mandates every one of us here to play very crucial roles to protect and safeguard the environment to make it a safe living place for all.”

He encouraged the students to be ambassadors of proper waste management practices to help foster environmental responsibility among the people and reduce the devastating impacts of climate change in their communities.

The Deputy Western Regional NCCE Director, Lan Kwame Tugbenu, said humans could not survive without the critical functions of the environment, so the students must do their part to protect and safeguard the environment.

He expressed appreciation to Fidelity Bank Ghana for supporting the NCCE to undertake the climate action awareness campaign to protect the environment.

As part of the event, the students recited poems, performed drama to depict the harmful effects of plastic pollution on the environment, and showcased some items recycled from plastic waste.

They were awarded for their innovative ideas on managing plastic waste.