Climate crisis: State commits to gender-responsive measures
At the ongoing hybrid CSW66 whose discussions are anchored on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change.
What you need to know:
- The government is committed to executing gender-responsive measures to address conflicts arising from climatic crises.
- Prof Margaret Kobia, said the government has established a climate-smart agriculture strategy to drive sustainable agricultural development.
Principal Secretary in State Department for Gender Prof Collette Suda has said the government is committed to executing gender-responsive measures to address conflicts arising from climatic crises.
Prof Collette who spoke on Wednesday during a CSW66 side event organised by International Centre for Research on Women-Africa cited the government’s investment in early warning and response systems that take into account the interests of both genders.
While noting that the effects of climate change predispose women and girls to gender-based violence (GBV), Prof Suda said the government has invested in roads as a way of enabling women to escape the abuse.
“Addressing GBV requires multi-sectoral and multi-agency efforts. No single organisation can address GBV all by itself. And we must involve men and boys,” she said.
Gender equality
At the ongoing hybrid CSW66 whose discussions are anchored on achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes, the government has also pronounced itself on its commitments.
Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs and Special Programmes Prof Margaret Kobia, presented the country statement on Wednesday, in which she stated she reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to put women at the core of climate solutions.
She said the government has established a climate-smart agriculture strategy to drive sustainable agricultural development for food and nutrition security.
This strategy promotes adaptation to climate change, building resilience of agricultural systems while minimising emissions. This then results in enhanced food and nutritional security and improved livelihoods.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, if women farmers were given the same access to resources such as land and credit as men, national agricultural production would rise by 2.5 to 4 per cent. And the number of malnourished people would be reduced by 12 to 17 per cent.
