Three things you can do to increase women’s participation in climate issues:
- Educate and create awareness at the community level.
- Ensure climate action is not punitive, it does not undermine livelihoods.
- Seek women’s knowledge – traditional/indigenous knowledge remains untapped, we must be deliberately inclusive to address climate issues.
I am Generation Equality because...
I grew up surrounded by very strong women; my grandmothers, my mother and the resilient women of my village. The rural woman in Kenya often surmounts the unimaginable to simply stand on her own two feet - I always wonder how much she could achieve with a level playing field. These women remain my greatest motivation. I am the daughter of an activist; as primary school teacher, my mother was among the organizers of the landmark teacher’s strike of 1997. I also grew up with a tree-hugger for a father, I’ve lost count of the number of trees I’ve planted!
Urgent actions for equality
There are many urgent issues, but I would narrow it down to two; climate change and quality leadership. Nature is revenging fast and it’s rough! Kenya’s constitution affords the rights to access to clean air and, to have the environment protected for current and future generations. It has a number of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments to climate change but we are the only country in Africa that has a climate change act that has never been implemented.
The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed us to glaring leadership gaps globally. There’s an urgent need for the world to nurture a generation of leaders who lead with heart. You need leaders with a heart who prioritize people and planet over profits to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.