Outstanding Young Hero In Buea Receives Award In Memory Of Princess Diana
Young person from Buea is honoured with The Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change. Forbi Perise , aged 24, from The University of Buea has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award. Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Forbi first became passionate about ocean conservation in high school, when he learned that the ocean he loved was in crisis. As ‘hub leader’ of ‘Sustainable Ocean Alliance Cameroon’, Forbi has worked with over 3,000 fishermen from coastal communities across Cameroon, where he teaches the importance of ocean conservation. Through his mission to stop sea turtle fishing, Forbi has trained 30 young people, raised $5,000 to run workshops, and consulted with three government agencies to ensure laws protecting endangered animals were enforced. Forbi continues to take his own initiative, and is now building a large network of ocean leaders across Africa as the ‘Sustainable Ocean Alliance’s Regional Representative’ for Africa.
The immediate impacts of the work Forbi Perise does are improved sanitary conditions in local areas as the result of community clean-ups, functioning drainage systems that are no longer clogged with waste, and an increased amount of plastic waste recycled. Forbi Perise achieved a long-term impact in Cameroon by creating a new environmentally conscious generation of action-oriented individuals who are well informed about plastic pollution and waste management challenges and are ready to address them. These young people will protect the marine and coastal ecosystems of the future. The sustainable habits learnt in school will be disseminated by schoolchildren to their families, thus creating a wider behavioural shift.
As the lead of Greening Forward Cameroon, Forbi Perise has worked with over 3000 young people in 15 schools in 2019. He engaged many more people through his work with OzGREEN, ICENECDEV, ThinkOcean, Grades of Green, Empower and Oceanic Global. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Forbi Perise launched a project that provides conscious coloring books and art materials to underprivileged families to educate schoolchildren about marine plastic pollution even when they cannot attend schools. His work with Empower resulted in waste pickers receiving much-needed financial support during the lockdown.
Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award, says:
“We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are changemakers for their generation. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens. For over twenty years The Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others.”
WHAT IS THE NOMINATION PROCESS?
Award recipients have been put forward by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and recognised their efforts as a positive contribution to society. Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators had to demonstrate the nominee’s impact in five key areas: Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey. There are 12 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each UK region or nation and a further three panels representing countries outside of the UK. Each panel consist of three judges; one young person, an education or youth work professional, and a business or government representative. The panels have an important main purpose: to determine which nominations from each UK region/nation/country will receive The Diana Award. Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure the quality of youth social action.
