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Women central to efforts
to deal with climate change: UN report |
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 ADDIS
ABEBA(November 24, 2009)- Women bear the disproportionate
burden of climate change, but have so far been largely overlooked
in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts,
melting glaciers and extreme weather, concludes The State of World
Population 2009, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The poor are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change,
and the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on $1 a day or less
are women. The poor are more likely to depend on agriculture for a
living and therefore risk going hungry or losing their livelihoods
when droughts strike, rains become unpredictable and hurricanes move
with unprecedented force. The poor tend to live in marginal areas,
vulnerable to floods, rising seas and storms, the report says.
Research cited in the report shows that women are more likely than
men to die in natural disasters including those related to extreme
weather with this gap most pronounced where incomes are low and status
differences between men and women are high. With the possibility of
a climate catastrophe on the horizon, over 3.4 billion women and girls
in the world have the role of victim.
The report was officially launched on Monday at Hilton Hotel here.
This year's theme was: "Facing a changing world: Women, Population
and Climate".
According to UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Fidele Sarassoro, the report
aims to remind the international community that climate change is
more than an issue of energy efficiency or industrial carbon emissions;
it is also about people and where and how they live, what they consume
and the rights and opportunities available to them.
The report draws attention to populations in low-lying coastal areas
that are vulnerable to climate change and calls on governments to
plan ahead to strengthen risk reduction, preparedness and management
of disasters and address the potential displacement of people.
The State of World Population 2009 argues that the international community's
fight against climate change is more likely to be successful if policies,
programmes and treaties take into account the needs, rights and potential
of women.
The report shows that investments that empower women and girls-particularly
education and health bolster economic development and reduce poverty
and have a beneficial impact on climate.
Girls with more education, tend to have smaller and healthier families
as adults. Women with access to reproductive health services, including
family planning, have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower
growth in greenhouse-gas emissions in the long run, the report added.
The State of World Population 2009 report was launched in the presence
of Mekonnen Manyazewal, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development
(MoFED), other high ranking government officials, members of the diplomatic
mission, heads of UN Agencies, representatives of civil society organizations,
and other dignitaries.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development
agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy
a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in
using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty.
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