According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), women and young people are 14 times more likely than men to die in disasters, and women make up 80% of those displaced by climate change. In response, the UN agency is working with the African Risk Capacity (ARC) to integrate gender into climate action and disaster risk management and reduction in sub-Saharan Africa.
Both organisations are very active on climate change issues. ARC provides insurance against climate risks. A few months ago, this African Union (AU) agency paid out €7.1 million in insurance against the drought affecting its rural populations in Mali. The FAO is also active in the fight against food insecurity caused by the drought in the most affected parts of the continent, notably the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa.
Advocacy and resource mobilisation
Over the next five years, FAO and ARC will strengthen advocacy and awareness raising, mutual technical support and resource mobilization. “This collaboration brings hope to millions of African women who are struggling against social and economic discrimination in climate action and related decision-making processes. While much remains to be done to achieve gender equality in the sector, our combined efforts will be a leap towards a better future for the most vulnerable groups in our region,” says Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO’s Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa.
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The partnership also aims to build institutional capacity to integrate gender issues “into work plans and policies, generate knowledge for better informed dialogue and decision-making at local, national and regional levels, and provide gender-sensitive early warnings on the impacts of extreme weather events and food insecurity,” says FAO.
And there is an urgent need to act, especially as the climate crisis is exacerbating in Africa. In the Horn of Africa alone, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 20 million people are threatened by famine, including 40% of the Somali population and 7 million Ethiopians. This part of Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in 40 years.
Jean Marie Takouleu