Ghana: Local Women to Engage in Climate Change Decision Making
A project aimed to achieve long term impact on the promotion of women's rights and gender responsiveness of climate change policy making, mitigation and adaptation measures in Ghana has been launched in Accra
Ama A.A. Baafi and Mohammed Suleman | Public Agenda in AllAfrica.com | 9 April 2010
Dubbed "Building Capacities to Influence Climate Change Policies from a Gender Perspective," the project has among its objectives promoting women's active participation in all decision-making processes on Climate Change at all levels; and strengthening the capacity of different actors especially women and to monitor government's compliance in the implementation of Climate Change conventions to ensure that the strategies meet the specific needs and concerns of women.
Abantu for Development, a sub-regional gender and policy advocacy non-governmental organization, and Gender Action on Climate Change for Equality and Sustainability (GACCES) won the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) grant to implement the two-year project.
The launching ceremony also saw the unveiling of GACCES, a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to the promotion of women's rights and gender equality in climate change.
The project targets women and gender based institutions and networks as primary actors and beneficiaries. Other target groups are policy makers, media practitioners, chiefs and community leaders, private sector institutions and civil society organizations.
Implementers say in order to consolidate the work around gender and Climate Change, the ideas generated from the project will be shared with a broad range of actors to ensure greater commitment and action on the issues being addressed. Opportunities for expanding this initiative in the sub-region will also be explored.
Climate Change, referred to as the long-term fluctuation in precipitation, temperature, wind and all other aspects of the earth's climate, is currently considered one of the biggest challenges facing the world with 75% of greenhouse emission from developed world and Africa already vulnerable to it.
Several forums on Climate Change have deduced that the phenomenon and its impact pose a challenge to democratic sustenance as overall objective of democratic governance is to secure equitable development for society.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an estimated 35% of Ghana's land mass is desert and this is advancing at an estimated 20,000 hectare per year. Consequently, there will be loss of livelihood for most people in Ghana, since desertification reduces land available for farming activities.
Already, Ghanaian small scale farmers, particularly women in the northern parts are facing displacement from their farm lands to an influx of foreign companies engaged in jatropha and sugar-cane plantation for biofuel production.
UNICEF on the occasion of World Health Day last year cautioned that the impact of Climate Change could fall disproportionately on women and children.
In addition, women and children tend to be disproportionately affected by hurricanes and flooding, which Climate Change experts say will increase in intensity and frequency in coming years.
Last year, report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that malnutrition and associated disorders, including those relating to child growth and development, could increase as the global Climate Changes.
Reduced supplies of clean water in some areas could also add to the burden on rural women and girls, who are usually responsible for collecting water for cooking and washing.
"The voices of women and children must be heard and their needs assessed as part of the international response to prospective changes to the environment, and they must have access to the knowledge and tools necessary to protect themselves and their communities", said Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF.
Speaking at the launching ceremony in Accra, Dr. Agnes Akosua Aidoo, Vice Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in reference to a UNDP Human Development report stated that Climate Change could maximize existing impact on marginalized women especially in developing countries.
She noted that the impact threatens human security, exacerbates conflicts and causes forced migration. "Women and men are affected by Climate Change differently. Though significant progress in terms of women equality, women continue to form majority of the poor and face inequality in land rights, decision making power etc."
These historical deficits, according to Dr. Aidoo, make women and girls vulnerable such that women in rural areas are doubly challenged by Climate Change. She, however, said at the same time it must be acknowledged that women are vital agents of change. "They have their own vision of a better world in Climate Change and must be heard as critical to sustainability".
She stressed the need to create awareness on gender specific impacts of Climate Change in the rural and urban context, women and girls and men and boys. She called for the support of all and sundry, particularly media to make gender needs of Climate Change a reality.
Convenor of GACCES, Ms Patience Damptey, said Climate Change is already happening and could put pressure on developing countries as they feel multiple disadvantages in areas such as gendered poverty, unequal access to resources, food insecurity and diseases, although they are not directly responsible for generating these damaging greenhouse gases.
"Climate Change is a major gender issue, given the unequal social relationships that characterize experiences, negotiations and impacts in the different regions and communities. As such it is important that women?s rights organizations continue to engage with the process to get additional language on issues of finance and technology."
In his key note address, the Deputy Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Omane Boamah, corroborated the point that the effects of Climate Change are differentiated.
He cautioned that it was important to focus on issues such as biodiversity, desertification and drought or else though Ghana would achieve some feat of a sort the country would be required to come back.
Dr. Boamah mentioned the National Forest Plantation Development Programme and the Coastal Zone Development Programme as some of government's effort to combat desertification.
He asked civil society, media and development partners, among others, to collaborate with government since it cannot solely address the issue of Climate Change.
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