Nada Al-Mashdali, 26 years old, owns and operates a biogas production project that produces biogas – a clean, alternative energy – and organic fertilizer from recycling food waste. She works with the community to help ensure production while also focusing on increasing the awareness about using alternative energy and individual responsibility toward climate change.

A participant of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) and Seventh’s Youth Leadership Programme (YLP), Nada has produced an innovative electronic device to measure temperature to help increase the production of biogas, organic fertilizer, and gas pressure density which can be monitored through a mobile application.

"Providing biogas to the community is critical as it not continuously available. People are forced to stand for long hours in cold weather to purchase it and its high price does not allow some to get the quantity needed,” says Nada.

The YLP programme helped Nada develop her ideas such as monitoring the temperature and amount of gas produced, as well as the amount of food waste for increasing the process of producing biogas with the assistance of field experts. In addition, she was assisted with writing project proposals, strategic planning, familiarization with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and networking with experts and partners.

Nada believes that through participation in awareness campaigns and decision-making, women’s impact within their communities can be significant. She notes that climate action cannot be successful and sustainable if it does not include women as a fundamental partner who should be engaged in environmental projects for climate solutions.

Having found tremendous success, Nada intends to continue her project to bring a positive change to her community by providing biogas for the homes and raising awareness of the importance of recycling.

Youth are vital source to help Yemen achieve the SDGs as they represent a large sector of the community. Like Nada, they must be engaged in the development process through involvement in activities and programmes that enhance their innovative capabilities to find practical solutions to real world problems. "Programmes like YLD are a real hope for youth to develop their innovative skills and ideas to achieve SDGs, especially in the current situation in Yemen," concludes Nada.