Show interest in issues of climate - Women advised

Women have been advised to show keen interest in issues concerning climate change, since they impact directly on their lives in several ways.

According to the Programme Manager for ABANTU for Development, Mrs Ellen Drah, women who were equipped with useful information on climate change could effectively serve as ambassadors of change.

She was speaking at a workshop organised by ABANTU, in collaboration with Global Action For Women Empowerment (GLOWA) and sponsored by IBIS Ghana, to strengthen the capacity of critical actors, especially women, to influence climate change policies and programmes.

She noted that women were particularly vulnerable to climate change because they were highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood.

Knowledge about climate change

She said research had shown that women had little knowledge about issue concerning climate change.

She said that was because they were not involved in decision making and also lacked education about issues, indicating that the threat of climate change to Ghana’s socio-economic and environmental development was evident, especially among those who depended on agriculture and the natural resource sectors for their livelihood.

The programme manager stated that the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) had important roles in spearheading development that would support local communities where most women lived, so as to manage climate change risks.

She called on assemblies with no gender desk to create one, and to allow the views of women to be heard on issues including climate change that affected them directly. She stressed that achieving that goal would make women crucial partners in managing natural resource on a sustainable basis to help address problems associated with climate change.

Training

The Chief Executive of GLOWA, Ms Christine Egbeadzor, in her remarks, indicated that the training was to equip members of the Gender Action on Climate Change for Equality and Sustainability (GACCES) and other participants and to advocate gender perspectives in the implementation of climate change policies and programmes at all levels.

She said the capacity building workshop, funded by IBIS in Ghana, served as a platform for learning and exchange of knowledge on climate change, as well as developing an action plan for implementation.

In attendance were women’s rights and gender-based organisations, civil society organisation working on gender and climate change, planning officers from selected district assemblies in the region and the media.