Guwahati Girl- Ankita Represents India at UNEA-7 in Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya | 12 December 2025
Ankita Sarmah Bordoloi, a 22-year-old Masters student of Mass Communication, Journalism and Media Studies at Cotton University, Guwahati, has just concluded an inspiring 12-day participation at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) and the Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR-7) held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28th November –12 December 2025 as a delegate of NYCC under Bring Back Green Foundation and represented as a climate fellow of Assam.
Selected as a fellow of the National Youth Climate Consortium which is an initiative of the Bring Back Green Foundation and supported by Yuwaah-UNICEF, Ankita was one of the youngest Indian delegates at the world’s highest-level environmental decision-making body. She actively participated in various discussions on youth leadership, pollution mitigation, and the role of youth in global environmental governance.
Speaking from Nairobi, Ankita said, “Representing Assam and the river-dolphin conservation cause on a platform like UNEA has been a dream come true. The river dolphins of our Brahmaputra are disappearing fast because of habitat destruction, pollution and accidental entanglement in fishing nets. I tried carrying the story — and the stories of thousands of communities dependent on the river — to the global stage.”
Under the National Youth Climate Consortium, Ankita is currently leading a long-term awareness and advocacy project focused on the critically falling population of the endangered Gangetic River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica), India’s national aquatic animal and Assam’s State Aquatic Animal, in the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. Her fieldwork includes community engagement along riverbanks, awareness and orientation sessions in educational institutions and street plays to connect with locals.
To amplify the message back home, Ankita has announced the “Xihu Festival” — a three-day eco-cultural festival scheduled for 9–11 January 2026 at the Ropeway Terminal, Panbazar, Guwahati. Named after the Assamese word for the river dolphin (“Xihu”), the festival will feature dolphin-themed art installations, photography exhibitions, panel discussions with conservationists, traditional performances, and interactive sessions for students and youth.
“Through the Xihu Festival we want every Guwahatian to feel connected to the river and its dolphins. When people fall in love with the Xihu again, they will naturally become its protectors,” Ankita added.
