By Hassan Zaggi
The United Nations Women has called for more representation of women in decision-making platforms to enable them participate and contribute in climate change interventions in Nigeria.
The UN Women representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Comfort Lamptey, stated this at a media breakfast meeting on International Women’s Day 2022, in Abuja, yesterday.
International Women’s Day is celebrated globally on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women.
International Women’s month campaigns which run from March 1st – 30th bring to attention issues such as gender equality; economic, political, and reproductive rights; gender-based violence and abuse against women.
The theme of International Women’s Day for this year is ‘Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow’.
The focus for this year’s campaign is to recognize the contribution of women and girls leading on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for us all.
Ms. Comfort Lamptey, however, regretted the low participation of women in decision- making platforms in Nigeria, disclosing that: “Currently, women’s representation at the national parliament is 3.6 percent; ministerial appointment is about 16 percent. Women make up only 9.8 percent of local government elected seats as of 2021.
“This is a reflection of women’s representation in decision-making and participation in climate change interventions.”
She further called for increased financing for gender responsive climate environmental and disaster risks initiatives when supporting women organisations and cooperatives are prioritized.
According to her: “We need to also invest in gender specific statistics and data so that we can amplify the relationship between gender and climate change.
“It is important that we have more data and in making this investments, I am working with the national Bureau of Statistics as well as some of the environmental right activists and some women organisations.
“We need to also strengthen efforts to address the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and strengthening health systems so that those who are affected by climate shock can receive appropriate support.”
While calling for more voices including that of women and girls in decision-making, she reiterated that without the leadership of women and their participation in efforts to address climate change, it is unlikely that the solutions proffered will be sustainable.
“We also need to shift the climate discourse from one of helping the vulnerable, to one that empowers women and girls and ensuring they can participate integrally in finding solution to addressing gender inequality which we believe as fundamental drivers of risks in the climate change context.
“We need to ensure that we integrate gender perspectives in all the climate, environmental and disaster risks reduction policies and programmes so that at the policy and the programmatic level, we need to use the gender lenses to address this problem.
“We need to also need to promote the full and equal participation and leadership of women and girls in order to achieve real and sustainable change in addressing the climate crisis.
“We need to continue to invest in building the resilience of women and girls and of their organisations so many of those on the frontline Civil Society Organisations that are leading this charge we need to invest more resources in building their organisations.”
In a presentation, the Deputy Representative of UN Women in Nigeria, Lansana Wonneh, disclosed that the survival rates of women in Nigeria are lower in disasters and climate change conflicts due to inequality-engendered vulnerability.
According to him, in some parts of Nigeria, gender-based violence is intensified by climate and environmental crises and that the economic and social fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted women and girls disproportionately, challenging their ability to withstand the impacts of the climate and environment crises, insisting that women’s participation in climate change response becomes critical.
