African Women Advocate End To Climate Change

Women from 10 African countries under the aegis of African Women’s Climate Assembly, have lent their voices to the call to end climate change in the continent.
They made the call during a conference on climate change organised by the Assembly in Port Harcourt, recently.
The women were drawn from Guinea Conakry, Côte d’ivoire, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.
In her welcome address, the Director, Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre, Chief Emem Okon, explained that the essence of the conference was to offer women a space to share their experiences, organise positive strategies, learn from each other, as well as deepen their knowledge on climate change.
The Director, who is hosting the Assembly in collaboration with WoMin African Alliance, urged the participants and all African women to be focused and resilient in their fight for “Climate Justice” until their voices are heard.
According to her, “the oil impacted communities have suffered a lot of health issues, no access to good drinking water, the oil spills into farmland and rivers, into creeks. As a result, the sources of good drinking water for the people is contaminated, no pipe borne water, borehole water is not clean, so having access to good water drinking water is a problem”.
Okon also lamented the increasing cases of cancer as a result of the hydrocarbon been discharged daily into the atmosphere during oil production, and called on the government for immediate intervention.
“We have also had toxic gases been released into the atmosphere as part of the processes, the people are dying; so we call on government and all stakeholders to do something, so that the people are able to get a good source of drinking water which would transcend to good health for all”, she said.
Also speaking, the Edo State Coordinator of the Political Women Empowerment and Development Organisation, Comrade Cynthia Ebere White, urged the women as caregivers and bunden-bearers to rise up, speak out and claim their rights and status in the society.
She noted that many African women had become refugees in other communities due to the devastating effects of uncontrollable flood in Africa, citing Rivers and Bayelsa states as examples.
Mrs White called on the leadership of African countries and all project agents involved in flooding issues to assist the victims as well as implement and monitor policies that would put an end to perennial flooding in the continent.
Meanwhile, a delegate from Burkina Faso, Mrs Saknatou Onodiosogo, told The Tide on the sidelines of the conference that climate change had increased poverty, hunger and diseases in Africa.

By: Susan Serekara-Nwikhana & Blessing Ita