2 Initiate project to improve female resilience in climate change
A project that seeks to improve the resilience of Ghanaians, particularly women, girls and vulnerable groups, through increased investment in inclusive and gender-responsive climate adaptation initiatives has been launched in Accra.
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The project, which is known as Strengthening Investment in Gender-Responsive Climate Adaption (SIGRA), would, among others, strengthen the participation and influence of women in government decision-making and climate adaptation issues.
The five-year project, which would benefit five districts in the Northern and Volta regions, is a collaboration between the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) and Cowater International, with sponsorship from Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
Speaking at the launch of the project and learning forum, the Counsellor and Deputy Director, GAC, Louise Paris, said the successful implementation of the project would directly improve the resilience of 627,000 Ghanaians against the effects of climate change and also support up to five million people indirectly in the two beneficiary regions.
SIGRA’s focus
She said the SIGRA initiative focused on three intermediate outcomes namely; for an improved enabling environment for accessing climate finance and implementing an inclusive and gender-responsive national adaptation plan by the government; increasing the effectiveness of Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the two beneficiary regions in planning and executing inclusive and gender-responsive projects on food security and climate adaptation and also to foster an enhanced influence of women, girls and vulnerable groups on expenditure priorities of government, especially for inclusive and gender-responsive investments in climate-smart agriculture and climate adaptation.
She expressed the hope that the smooth implementation of the project would generate results that would sustain beyond the project and help improve the resilience of Ghanaians against climate change, with better access to knowledge and financial resources in the long term to face this challenge.
The Executive Director of NETRIGHT, Patricia Blankson Akakpo, said as a country, pursuing a gender-responsive climate adaptation would promote interventions that had the needs and interests of women, girls, people with disabilities and the most vulnerable groups as its core mandate.
The Principal Planning Officer of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Carl Quist, who launched the project, said SIGRA would focus on soil conservation and restoration, irrigation, forestation, land management and the promotion of relevant climate change technologies.
He said the project would also support regional government stakeholders in the two regions and strengthen the capacity of the targeted districts to plan, implement and report on climate adaptation initiatives.
Support
He expressed the hope that all the relevant actors and stakeholders would render their full support and technical expertise to the beneficiary metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies for the success of the project.
The Chief Economic Officer of the Ministry of Finance, Adwoa Fraikue, said Ghana, like many countries, faced significant challenges in mobilising and effectively utilising climate finance to build resilience and promote sustainable development.
She called for collaboration to ensure that going forward, their collective efforts as a global community took the fullest advantage of what women and girls could, must and bring to saving the world.