By Mariama Marong
ActionAid International The Gambia (AAITG) validated a document on women’s leadership in climate change adaptation and mitigation on Monday, 2 December 2024.
The validation, which was held at ActionAid Head office in Kanifing, brought together officials from the government, the NGO and CSO community, and the media, to review the document.
Ndella Faye Colley, the executive director of ActionAid International The Gambia, highlighted the important role women play in addressing the challenges of climate change which has led to rising temperatures and sea levels leading to severe floods and droughts.
The ActionAid director said women are key in development and they should be empowered to address the impact of climate change and to adapt to the situation.
“Climate change is real and there is a need to build our resilience,” she asserted and said the document needs a thorough review to ensure that it addresses the key challenges of climate change.
Mr. Fafa Cham, the head of program and policy at ActionAid, said the study document was conducted to examine the nexus between women’s leadership and climate change strategies in Niamina East, Niamina West, Niamina Dankunku and Upper Niumi District in the North Bank Region.
Mr. Cham said ActionAid is very much concerned with the empowerment of women, people living in poverty, and the marginalized. He said the validation is crucial because it will provide them with a strategy on how to address and mitigate climate change.
“It will be very essential for the document to be reviewed properly because it will serve as a guide in adapting to climate change,” he said, adding that women need to be empowered because they are mostly affected and they can easily adapt to situations as well.
“Women need to be empowered because climate change is real and it affects everyone, and women and children are more vulnerable to climate change impacts,” he said.
He assured that they will engage government institutions like the Ministry of Gender and Agriculture on the findings of the report and that the document will be available in the public domain.
Dr. Demba Kandeh, Climate Change, and Mitigation Consultant who also doubles as a senior lecturer at Gambia College School of Education’s Department of Social and Environment Studies, said they were tasked to research women’s leadership in climate change adaptation. This, he noted, will pave the way for building the resilience of women in addressing climate change. Dr. Kandeh said women play important roles ranging from agriculture to environmental management and they also play a role in climate change adaptation. He narrated that women are actively engaged in disaster risk management. With this, he called on the need for women to be advocated by their husbands in climate change and all matters related to changes in the earth’s atmosphere.
“Even though women are doing a lot, their roles are not recognized and they must face challenges from their male counterparts,” he said. He said women need to be recognized and supported by development organizations. Dr. Kandeh further said women should be involved in designing the implementation processes of development projects.
Haddijatou Ceesay, a climate change advocate said the validation is important because it has to do with women and climate change. She said the document is significant because women and youth take leading roles in climate change adaptation. She described the document as impressive, but urged researchers to integrate the recommendations by stakeholders into the final document of the women’s advocacy plan for climate change adaptation.
