Ramblings about Gender, climate change, Equity, community, culture

Engaging Men and Boys in addressing Climate Change Adaptation   The discussions of climate change impacts have focused more on women and girls as the most affected, and indeed I agree with the narrative. It has also gone ahead to tag them as vulnerable, which is also true, but more often we forget their capacities in addressing climate impacts, given the right resources, spaces and opportunities. A lot has been said on that, today I want to focus on men.   In the Gender Equality narratives, men have been tagged the aggressors, the abusers, the irresponsible, etc -- I also agree, but add that we also forget to engage men in the discussions to understand their behaviours and motivations.   In my gender assessments, I always facilitate separate groups of women and men and then bring them back together to generate consensus after each has shared their perspectives. In some Climate Risk Assessments I was engaged with in North Eastern...

The long struggle for Gender Equality! For gender or women justice campaigners,  just know that the struggle started long --long before and one wonders when it will end! So what is not working? step back and reflect. I stumbled on a phenomenal lady of the 17th century, Olympe de Gouges, 7 May 1748 – 3 November 1793). Born Marie Gouze,  she was a French playwright and political activist whose  feminist and abolitionist writings reached a large audience in those days. She stepped into the space of men, long before the days when the likes of  Napoleon thought women should be trained to be good housewives. She demanded for rights of women alongside the rights of men. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. She was executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror (1793_1794) for attacking the regime of the Revolut...

Zero poverty, zero emissions:  what does the final agreement offer to the poor and vulnerable countries?  Part 2 Tracy C. Kajumba,  After days and nights of negotiations, campaigns and lobbying, the COP21 conference has finally come to an end with consensus on the final agreement. Both Non government organisations and parties seemed to be happy that there is an agreement, which most commentators thought was better than the first draft which came out with many brackets. The UN secretary general Ban Ki moon in his remarks noted that, “The Paris Agreement is a monumental triumph for people and our planet. It sets the stage for progress in ending poverty, strengthening peace and ensuring a life of dignity and opportunity for all.” The French President Francois Hollande told the assembled delegates: “You’ve done it, reached an ambitious agreement, a binding agreement, a universal agreement. Never will I be able to express more gratitude to a conference. You can be proud to sta...

Last week I attended the Development and Climate days adaptation conference for civil society organisations, which ran parallel to UN COP21 conference . The event brought together adaptation practitioners to discuss practical solutions and learning experiences. I found that participants were hopeful in the discussions, fronting issues of social and climate justice, with the expectation that COP 21 could mark a turning point in climate negotiations. The link between climate change, poverty and development for better resilience could not be over emphasized in the discussions. However, the draft agreement does not seem to have captured the expectations of CSOs as anticipated as yet. A session on eradicating poverty and decarbonising development in the climate crisis reviewed how the climate crisis jeopardises our ability to sustain poverty eradication beyond 2030 and highlighted how resilient low-carbon development can deliver the sustained, more equal and pro-poor growth necessary to er...

It was a rainy morning on 12the November 2012 when I led a team of government official and ACCRA staff from Mozambique, Ethiopia and Uganda travelled to Harugale sub county, Bundibugyo District in western Uganda to share experiences of the communities participating in the implementation of the National Adaptation Programmes.   Regional learning exchange visits is part of ACCRA’s approaches to enhance adaptation initiatives.   The NAPA implementation in Bundibugyo district is being done through a tripartite agreement between the Ministry, ACCRA Uganda and Bundibugyo local government. Among the adaptation activities being carried out by the communities are implementing energy saving cook stoves (a brick lorena stove type)    Bundibugyo District is vulnerable to disasters like landslides, mudslides, and soil erosion due to the steep slopes which characterise the area. Collecting firewood is very tedious for women and girls who have to walk long distances with the w...