Initiate climate change policies to target women, vulnerable
Participants in a climate change consultation forum in Tamale have called for the implementation of deliberate climate-sensitive policies and interventions that target the needs of women and vulnerable persons in society.
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They intimated that though climate crises impacted everyone, women and vulnerable persons were the hardest hit by the crisis.
They observed that currently, policies and interventions initiated by the government were not directly targeting the needs of women and vulnerable people, particularly persons with disabilities who were already vulnerable with special needs.
Women empowerment
Speaking at the forum, the Programme Coordinator of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana, Gloria Kankam, said "Most of the women who are smallholder farmers are bearing the brunt because of the erratic rainfall.
Their crops are dying and the streams which used for dry season farming are also drying up".
She also called for continued efforts to empower women to have a voice and be equal players in decision-making related to climate change and sustainability.
According to her, women and girls’ empowerment on climate change and sustainability was essential for sustainable development and gender equality.
Impact/climate-smart agriculture
For her part, the Executive Director of Songtaba, Lamnatu Adamu, said women were more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constituted the majority of the world's poor, and were more dependent on the natural resources which had been threatened by the crisis.
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He, therefore, called for the removal of all forms of biases and discrimination against women to help achieve climate justice.
A Climate Change and Food Security Expert, Dr Gazale Issahaku, emphasised the need to leverage climate-smart agriculture to mitigate the impact of climate change and ensure food security.
Given the changes in the country’s climate, there is a need to adopt an innovative approach to ensure food security and mitigate the impact as the usual type of farming cannot sustain socio-economic development.
A Senior Fellow at ACET, Prof. John Asafu-Adjaye, said the ACET was working with various stakeholders to develop the compact to help offer clear and collectively agreed goals for the country’s governance, environment and economic management.
He indicated that concerns and suggestions raised at the forum would be collated for policy decision-making.
Consultation forum
Organised by the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), the forum brought together various stakeholders to deliberate on how to address the climate and environmental challenges confronting the country.
It formed part of the Ghana Compact Climate consultation initiated by ACET and aimed at collating public opinions and engaging in the national discussion on climate and environmental issues.
Writer's email:mohammed.
fugu@graphic.com.gh
