Women and Girls Must be Included in Climate Adaption Strategies, Says Top UN Food Agencies

Women and girls, who are at a higher risk than men and boys of experiencing the damaging effects of the climate crisis, including food insecurity, should be in the center when planning and implementing climate change adaptation solutions, according to three UN food agencies speaking at the International Women's Day event today. 

The event, which was organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), honored the contributions of women and girls around the world who play a critical role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

It also emphasized the importance of women's impact in climate resilience decision-making processes. 

Women and girls' reliance on climate-sensitive work, such as farming, combined with their limited access to economic resources, as well as services and information, makes them more vulnerable to the devastating effects of cyclones, floods, and droughts, affecting their livelihoods and food security. 

Women and girls' reliance on climate-sensitive work, such as farming, combined with their limited access to economic resources, as well as services and information, makes them more vulnerable to the devastating effects of cyclones, floods, and droughts, affecting their livelihoods and food security. 

Women make up about 80% of those displaced by climate-related calamities around the world. Women and girls are compelled to flee to displacement camps when their homes are destroyed by climatic disasters such as hurricanes, cyclones, and earthquakes, where they are often subjected to heightened violence. 

"Women and girls cannot be left out if we are to have any meaningful and long-lasting impact," Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General and Chair of the FAO Women's Committee, said at the event's conclusion. "They must be at the center of solutions and the table designing those solutions." 

FAO helps nations in developing climate policies and actions that are gender-responsive in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock. Women's leadership and negotiation skills will be boosted as part of a specially tailored program aimed at preparing them to become climate change negotiators.

In the framework of climate change and the COVID-19 response, FAO also advocates parliamentary initiatives for targeted gender budgeting and investments in agri-food systems.

It also helps Members adopt gender-responsive good practices to enhance climate-smart agriculture and is a key implementer of the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility. 

There has been a severe underrepresentation of women in critical decision-making processes regarding climate change solutions.

This lack of fair representation results in solutions that might not work with the diverse groups affected by the threats of climate change.