Call for active participation of women in adaptation projects

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Copyright: Jeremy Hartley/Panos

Gender sensitivity could aid climate change projects

Sam Otieno

“Gender-sensitive approaches can ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity.” -Jechoniah Kitala, Practical Action Consulting East Africa

Speed read

• A study is identifying gender differences in climate change adaptation
• Initial results show that gender is key to participatory development
• An expert calls for active participation of women in adaptation projects

Men and women living in slums face different climate change impacts which, if overlooked, could further widen gender gaps in participatory development, says the preliminary findings of a continuing study.

The study is identifying factors that influence men and women in participating in climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives.

The preliminary results of the study were released last month (19 January) at a workshop organised by Practical Action Consulting East Africa in partnership with Institute of Development Studies, and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, both based in the United Kingdom.

According to Jechoniah Kitala, the principal project manager, Practical Action Consulting East Africa, which is conducting the study, the preliminary findings indicate that ignoring gender differences in climate change adaptation projects could widen gender gaps and hinder participatory development.

The study being conducted in Kisumu, Kenya began on August 2015 and is to end next month (March). It involves 128 participants, including key informants and opinion leaders at the county and community levels.

Read the full article: SciDevNet

Gender equality and women’s empowerment

 

Photo credit: UN News Centre

Working alongside her male team member, a female employee checks the quality of work at a dam under construction in Sri Lanka. Photo: World Bank/Lakshman Nadaraja

Global Goals cannot be achieved without ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment – UN chief

As world leaders continued their Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals, UN Women and China co-hosted a landmark event today on gender equality and women’s empowerment at which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared that the new Global Goals could not be achieved “without full and equal rights for half of the world’s population, in law and in practice.”

At the high-level ‘Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: A Commitment to Action’ world leaders are expected to make concrete commitments and firm pledges to overcome gender equality gaps. The event was convened in New York at UN Headquarters on the closing day of the three-day UN Sustainable Development Summit.

“Today, world leaders are signalling their personal responsibility for gender equality and women’s empowerment,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the event. “This is as it should be.”

But, said Mr. Ban, while progress has been made in many areas, there was still a long way to go.

“Far too many women and girls continue to be discriminated against, subjected to violence, denied equal opportunities in education and employment, and excluded from positions of leadership and decision-making,” he continued.

“We cannot achieve our 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without full and equal rights for half of the world’s population, in law and in practice. We cannot effectively respond to humanitarian emergencies without ensuring women and girls are protected and their needs prioritized,” he declared.

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said: “The highest leaders in the land are taking personal responsibility for their commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women.” She added that now, the world looks up to them to lead the game-changing actions that secure and sustain implementation. Today we take the first firm steps towards 25 September, 2030.

Read the full article: UN News Centre

Role of science in combating desertification

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Image credit: Flickr/ CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems

• Science ‘has big role in solving desertification issues ’

  William Payne, UNCCD 3rd scientific conference advisory committee : “This scientific conference will consider, in particular, the role of sustainable land management in building resilience and adaptation to climate change.”

  Speed read

  • The conference identified poverty, climate change and desertification linkages
  • It showed how sustainable land management could aid climate change adaptation
  • An expert said local knowledge could be key to sustainable land use systems

  [CANCUN, MEXICO] Science has a major role to play in combating desertification, aiding climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable land management practices, especially in the developing world, a conference has heard.

  During the opening session of the 3rd United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Scientific Conference in Cancun, Mexico, this week (9-12 March), Tarja Halonen, UNCCD’s drylands ambassador and former president of Finland, said poverty, climate change and desertification are closely linked in their causes, impacts and solutions.

  According to Halonen, women, youth and the poor are key when looking for available resources. “Majority of the farmers are women. In Africa, women produce 80 per cent of staple food. In Asia the figure is 60 per cent,” she said. “Scientific works, conclusions and recommendations will play a most important role in advising decision-makers.”

  Read the full article: SciDevNet

70 outstanding African women agricultural scientists

Photo credit: Agro Nigeria

Rising to the Challenge! 2015 AWARD Fellowship Winners Set to Impact Smallholders in the Year of Women’s Empowerment

by Cynthia

EXCERPT

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70 outstanding African women agricultural scientists from 11 countries have been chosen as the winners of the 2015 African Women in Agricultural Research and Development – AWARD fellowship in NAIROBI, Kenya.

Dr. Hawa Abdi – http://www.bet.com/topics/d/dr-hawa-abdi/_jcr_content/topicintro.topicintro.dimg/101112-shows-bgr-timeline-Dr-Hawa-Abdi.jpg

“Agricultural research and development in Mozambique is an important tool for increasing production, and consequently reducing household malnutrition and poverty, particularly in children and women,” says Olivia Narciso Pedro, a lecturer and researcher at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. “My vision for agriculture-led growth in Mozambique is to design alternatives to mitigate loss of genetic diversity, and ensure conservation of species, while improving household food security.”

2015 AWARD Fellowship Laureates from left: Juliana Mandha (Tanzania), Ifeoluwa Olotu (Nigeria) and Ngozi Edoh (Nigeria), attending the Mentoring Orientation – http://awakeafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-award-fellowship-laureates.jpg

This year’s laureates were selected from among an impressive cadre of 1,109 applicants from 11 African countries. These scientists and researchers, will benefit from AWARD’s two-year career-development program that is focused on accelerating agricultural gains by strengthening their research and leadership skills. AWARD Fellowships are granted on the basis of each scientist’s intellectual merit, leadership capacity, and the potential of her work to improve the livelihoods of African smallholder farmers, most of whom are women.

AWARD Fellows share a common vision: they want to translate their research and knowledge into tangible action, tangible action that will benefit smallholder farmers—especially laudable in 2015, the African Union’s Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Read the full article: Agro Nigeria