YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN POLICY & DEVELOPMENT

On the 1st of April 2022, the Young Professionals in Policy & Development (YouPaD) and Freidrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) , in continuation of the Agora by YouPaD Policy Discussion series, held an interactive session on the theme: 'The gendered climate crisis - Examining inter-linkages with girls' & women's rights/security'. Some of the participants are:

*Dr. Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa - Independent Conflict Transformation Strategist

*Ms. Zainab Yunusa - Feminist Climate Justice Advocate/Moderator

*Mrs. Hauwa Mustapha - Director, Tubali Development Initiative

*Baliqees Salaudeen - Co-Founder/Head of HR & CSR, Green Republic Farms

After animated discussion, the following were the salient issues:

*Climate change affects men and women differently.

*The fact that one is a woman does not automatically qualify one to speak on behalf of women in the rural areas. An elite woman in the city may not really understand what the lower and under class women go through.

*Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are highly politicised by government officialsto the extent that they may not be fit for purpose as regards the target audience.

*Elite portfolio-carrying NGOs 'key into' the distorted NDCs in order to have a taste/slash of the 'action' (pecuniary gains) for their fake outfits which claim to be working for women and girls. There is a difference between the theory and practice of gender activism. 'Gender careerists' are not helpful to the cause of disadvantaged women, vis-a-vis the climate crisis. 

*Climate-smart farming is the way to go.

*Remember that climate action is SDG 13.

*Do whatever you can in your little corner to assuage the burden of climate change.

*The inter-generational gap between and among women could be breached via 'cross mentoring' - young women teaching older women what they know and vice versa.

*Gender sensitivity is key for effective and efficient climate action.

                                                  Dr. Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa @ the discourse

There was a film at the start of the discourse titled: 'Climate 101', where the nitty gritty of what constitutes the greenhouse effect was explained. Besides, the disproportionate burden of climate change for women and girls was highlighted. At the end of the interaction, another film, 'Nowhere to hide', which depicts different perspectives of the farmer-herder crisis, a natural resource based conflict was viewed. It was indeed a Friday afternoon/evening well spent for me...