Gender, Climate Change, and Solution-Driven Dialogue

Q: Briefly share your experience serving as a lead facilitator for the People-Planet Connection dialogue.

Mubarak Idris, Bridge Connect Africa Initiative (BCAI), Nigeria: It was exciting to have open dialogues on climate change and harmful gender norms and practices. Some of the participants reached out to me to learn more, which goes to show how much this discourse was needed.

Sakinat Bello, Break-Free From Plastic Awareness Initiative, Nigeria: Participants shared their experiences from different countries, showing the issues women and girls face during climate-related displacement are visible and cannot be overlooked. There is a need for multisectoral approaches to address these issues.

Joy Munthali and Brenda Mwale, Green Girls Platform, Malawi: It was a new and thrilling experience for us to talk about gender integration and entry points for women’s empowerment in climate change responses.

Q: Briefly share your background in the topic. How did your participation in the discussion tie in with the work of your organization?

SB: I work as a program director for Break-Free From Plastic Awareness Initiative, a nongovernmental organization that works to create awareness and action to combat environmental degradation. We work to make sustainability relatable for the young and old while providing practical, sustainable solutions to tackle issues, especially the amplified rate of climate change in Nigeria.

MI: I work as the digital campaigns manager for BCAI, a nongovernmental organization that serves to empower young people, women, and girls with credible and quality reproductive health information to make informed choices. We work with local communities in northern Nigeria to amplify the voices of young girls and secure commitments from state leaders by creating and disseminating compelling, evidence-based advocacy videos focused on ending child marriage and increasing access to youth family planning services.

JM and BM: We are from Green Girls Platform, a female-led organization that works on girls’ and women’s empowerment, especially providing girls and women with sustainable climate change adaptation options that work in their contexts. One of our current projects is an advocacy campaign on gender mainstreaming in the implementation of climate change management policy in Malawi.

Q: What was one interesting observation or comment you noted from the discussion?

JM and BM: The most outstanding observation for us was how multilateral funds, like the Green Climate Fund, that have been set up to address climate change do not successfully mainstream gender in their implementation strategies.

SB: I observed that efforts are more focused on quick and short-term responses when issues arise, rather than mitigating them before they happen or providing a long-term response.

Q: What was one question you think needs to be explored more deeply?

SB: What are the short- and long-term sustainable responses needed to help address the vulnerability of women and girls in regard to climate change?

MI: I am a firm believer [in] solution-driven dialogue that will inform citizens on how to ensure that we put an end to harmful gender norms. It is important for us to have open conversations and brainstorming sessions on how to provide solutions that will give rise to environmentally conscious citizens who promote gender equality.

JM and BM: How can we integrate gender more purposefully into climate change responses and adaptations at the community, national, and international levels?