Kisumu environmental activist Shirley Akinyi advocates for children’s involvement in climate decisions.
The 16-year-old Kisumu activist wants governments to protect children’s health, education and safety while giving them influence over climate decisions.
Shirley Akinyi Ochieng, a 16-year-old environmental activist from Kisumu, is taking children’s climate concerns to COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye. She wants leaders to turn young people’s experiences into policies protecting their health, education and safety.
The United Nations climate conference runs from November 9 to 20, 2026. It brings together governments, scientists, civil society groups and young people to discuss climate action and financing.
For Akinyi, the campaign draws on her experiences growing up around floods, drought and environmental degradation. She said children already face climate-related harm, even as they have little influence over decisions affecting their future.
Shirley Akinyi highlights risks facing children
Akinyi described how heavy rains and flooding have damaged homes and stopped children from reaching school in Kisumu. However, she stressed that the consequences go beyond lost learning time to threaten children’s health and safety.
Flooding can also leave families without clean water and expose them to diseases, including malaria, she said. Meanwhile, prolonged dry spells make access to food and safe water harder, affecting children’s nutrition, growth and health.
In response, the teenager wants governments to invest more in healthcare, clean water and sanitation in vulnerable communities. She also advocates safer schools, communities better able to withstand floods, and stronger action against pollution.
Above all, Akinyi wants leaders to give children meaningful influence rather than simply invite them to speak. She argues that young people understand conditions in their communities, so their ideas should help shape practical action.
From local conservation to global advocacy
Akinyi began environmental activism at nine, inspired by her mother, who is also a conservationist. Since then, she has joined tree-planting activities, community clean-ups and environmental awareness campaigns.
In a 2025 interview with the Child Rights International Network (CRIN), she said she had planted more than 1,000 trees. She had also developed Tuongee Na Shirley, an environmental talk show encouraging young people to participate in conservation.
She now serves as Miss Greening Kisumu County Ambassador and a climate adviser at CRIN. In addition, she participates in the #LetLakeVictoriaBreatheAgain campaign and belongs to the Kisumu Environmental Champions.
Her mother is attending COP31 alongside her as a climate advocate representing mothers from Kenya and beyond. She described the opportunity as a chance to represent families while learning ways to advance environmental action.
For Akinyi, the goal remains to move children’s concerns beyond conference discussions into policies and tangible action.
