Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), an NGO, has advocated for inclusion of gender and Persons with Disabilities friendly policies in the climate change mitigation strategies and interventions of Government to give sense of belonging.
Executive Secretary of YMCA Mada Hills, Mr Ango Adamu, stated this at a two-day capacity building workshop for stakeholders on `Gender and Youth Mainstreaming into Climate Change Interventions in Lafia.
Adamu said that the workshop was organised by YMCA and Association of Small Scale Agro Production in Nigeria, in collaboration with Oxfam, through African Activists for Climate Justice Project (AACJ).
According to him, women and men have different climate change adaptive and mitigation capabilities, hence government, institutions and climate change financing instruments should take into account planning, fund design and operationalisation.
“Women, youths and persons with disabilities do not have the capacity to respond to floods, drought, erosion, pests’ infestation, conflicts, pollution and other higher risks and greater burden caused by climate change.
“We are advocating for institutional support and deliberate inclusion of gender-friendly policies that favour women, youths and PWDs in climate change mitigation strategies of governments,’’ he said.
Adamu said that YMCA and Oxfam was committed to supporting initiatives that would promote inclusion of gender and youth issues in climate change decisions and implementation in the state.
Also speaking, the Project Coordinator for AACJ, Mr Kenneth Akpan, said that the training became necessary considering the important roles women and youths played in the realisation of the project, noting that they were the most affected by climate change impacts.
He said that the project was designed to amplify the voices of the vulnerable, particularly women, youths and PWDs, to make people understand the importance of mainstreaming gender, the narrative and the approach.
“For us here, it is important that we are conscious and we want people to have that consciousness that they have to carry everyone along, because norms and traditions are infringing on their rights to participate and also stifling their voices.
“We want to call on governments at levels to consciously design policies to accommodate them and meet their needs, and this can be reflected their inclusion into governance so as to have their own say,’’ he said.
Akpan listed climate change issues affecting women to include: erosion, flood, drought, land tenure, harsh wind, storm, pollution, health challenges, discrimination, underpaid work, under-representation in decision-making and hardship caused by subsidy removal.
A Facilitator, Dr Edward Anzaku, of Department of Social Works, Federal University of Lafia, said that the training was aimed at helping participants to understand gender and youth issues so as to take them into account when designing climate change interventions.
Ms Esther Awu, of Nasarawa State Disabilities Rights Commission and Solomon Osakede, Secretary-General of Joint Association of PWDs, appreciated the organisers for giving them a platform to voice out their problems concerning climate change and its effects on PWDs.
The workshop had in attendance no fewer than 60 participants drawn from the state ministries of environment and women affairs, community farmers and women-farmer organisations, youths and civil society organisations.
Others were representative of Nasarawa State Disabilities Rights Commission, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Majalissa Maccido Foundation and Beacon of Hope Foundation. (NAN).
END.
