A university don, Prof. Sabo Ahmed has called for the inclusion of more women in decision making bodies across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for the country to achieve its long-term vision of fighting climate change.
He made the call in a paper presentation at a stakeholders’ workshop organized for civil society Organizations on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) at the Command Guest House, Bauchi.
Ahmed, who is of the department of environmental management, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, said women were the most affected by climate change, both in positive and negative ways, hence the need to adequately include them in decision making.
Represented by a development consultant, Mrs. Titi Yakubu, he opined that women as major stakeholders would be more active in policy making that would curb the negative impact of climate change on the lives of the citizens.
“In development world, gender is very important, and in development, there is nowhere you can consider only one section of the population without ensuring that others are taken into consideration. And once you see that there is disproportionate participation you will find out that women are the ones being excluded”, he said.
Ahmed lamented that in 2015, out of the 161 countries that signed the agreement on the climate change issue, only 16 made an attempt to put the issue of gender in their submissions.
He added: “Even at that, just a sentence was used to mention issue regarding gender, that is not enough. We all know that if there is any group of the society that is affected by climate change most or is vulnerable, it is no other than women because they are contributors to climate change either positively or negatively”.
For any document aimed at curbing the negative impact of climate change in the country to be effective, the don counseled that women’s voices should be included and heard.
The chairman, committee on environment and forestry of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Hon. Musa Wkili Nakwada said issues of environment were meant to be planned over a long term for them to be achieved, adding awareness on environmental protection should be taken down to the grassroots, as most of the problems of the environment were man-made.
He said so many laws had been passed in favour of the environment but the enforcement had always been a problem.
