NAMIBIAN women are most affected by impacts of climate change, and it is important that Namibia comes up with strategies that take into account the gender perspective, says the environment commissioner.
Teofilus Nghitila made these remarks in a speech read on his behalf by the deputy director for multilateral environmental agreements in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Peter Muteyauli, at a one-day Gender and Climate Change workshop in Windhoek recently.
“Since women are mainly charged with the responsibility of securing water, food and fuel for cooking and heating, they face the greatest challenge.
“Coupled with unequal access to resources and to decision-making processes, limited mobility further places women in rural areas in a position where they are disproportionately affected by climate change,” said Nghitila.
He said it is against this background that Namibia should identify gender-sensitive strategies to respond to the crisis caused by climate change.
“They collect wood, water and food for households,” he added.
The Environment Investment Fund (EIF) director of operations, Karl Aribeb, said women and men are affected by climate change differently and women are the hardest hit.
“They represent the highest number of poor people in the world. Seventy per cent of poor people in the world are women,” said Aribeb.
He said the Global Climate Fund of which EIF is an agent, has a policy which calls for gender equality, equity, inclusivity and accountability in the efforts towards addressing the impacts of climate change.