GUWAHATI, March 16 - An Earth Day 2017 campaign was launched on Wednesday at the North East Diocesan Social Service Society at a function attended by directors and key functionaries of 15 NGOs of the North East. The campaign was jointly organised by the Earth Day Network India, a global NGO; North East Diocesan Social Service Society (NEDSSS) and Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
Speaking on the theme of Earth Day 2017, �Environmental and Climate Literacy�, the director of NEDSSS Fr Varghese Velickakam said the institution plans to organise activities such as roundtable discussions, rallies, school level competitions and orientation seminars in all the NE states during the months of March and April to spread awareness regarding the human actions that cause destruction of environment and the need to adopt environment-friendly lifestyles.
The two-month programme will target mainly schoolchildren, youths, women, environmental actors and policy makers.
Retired IAS officer Romanus Horo who was the chief guest, cited various examples of deforestation in large areas of the North East and urged the civil society and policy makers to curb such actions at the earliest as they are making earth a heap of filth.
Associate programme coordinator of CEE Jaison Varghese led the input session on �Handprint Actions� � positive action towards sustainable development � and introduced �Handprint for Action�, calling upon people from all walks of life to make commitments to take up activities to promote environmental regeneration.
On the occasion, NEDSSS organised a workshop on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, facilitated by Bibhuti Bhushan Gadanayak, State DRR Coordinator, UNICEF, Guwahati, Assam.
