Ghana Women-Climate Justice Hearing Tribunal 2011

GCAP-Ghana and Abibimman foundation on Friday launched the 2011 Women and Climate Change Justice Hearing 2011 -- The Road to Durban and and Rio+ 20 project, under the theme; "Strengthening Voices, Searches for Solution" at the Tema Central market.

The theme for the occasion which is being sponsored by Global Call to Action Against Poverty and Feminist Task Force, is: "Strengthening Voices-Search For Solutions."

The Women and Climate Change Justice Hearing is an attempt by the NGO to give hearing to persons who are mostly impacted by the effects of climate change, mainly women, to tell their own stories to ensure that they are listened to in the policy debate around climate justice.

The NGO will be travelling the length and breadth of the country to interact with women to voice out their concerns, as well demand space in the policy debate around climate justice so that they can present same at Durban next year.

Addressing the launch, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Abibiman Foundation, Kenneth Nana Amoateng, said women in Ghana, like in any other developing country, were not only victims of climate change, but also effective agents of change, in relation to adaptation, mitigation, and disaster reduction strategies.

"Given their roles in society (concerning production and reproduction within their family and community), women have important knowledge, skills, and experiences for shaping the adaptation process and the search for better and safer communities.

"We believe that with continuous capacity building, training, and supporting the community mobilisation efforts and actions, especially for Ghanaian women, national climate change adaptation and mitigation measures will be localised and made more effective," he explained.

Launching the hearing, Ms Gloria Kafui Amegah, climate change ambassador of the Environmental Health Club (EHC), a Tema-based (NGO), disclosed that women in low income countries often experienced difficult times whenever global warming occurs.

"In addition, women are the majority of the world's farmers, producing between 60 to 80% of food in most developing nations. Drought, heat, floods, and the resulting dislocation, interrupt harvest cycles and deny women secure livelihoods. Given their central role in food production, this puts the household, community, and national food security at risk.

Despite this, women's voices are still not being heard in debates around climate change at the local, national, regional, or international level, she noted.

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