GRASSROOT WOMEN UNITE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

A two day grassroots women conference on climate change was organized by Gender CC- Women for climate justice in conjunction with Land Access Movement of South Africa (LAMOSA) on 24 and 25 November 2011 at Saints Hospitality Centre, St. Philomenas, Durban, South Africa. The conference which was organized in prior to the UNFCCCS COP17 aimed at Providing a platform for women from different backgrounds to share their challenges and experiences on issues of climate change; to highlight the key needs of grassroots women, particularly in terms of climate financing; to explore opportunities for lobbying and advocacy for inclusive and gender-sensitive national and international climate change policy; to strengthen and rejuvenate grassroots womens movements and networks; and finally to develop a conference statement in order to bring the demands and interests of grassroots women to the attention of COP 17 and future international climate change negotiations.
The conference which has over 40 grassroots women and 3 grassroots men in attendance drawn from West Africa- Nigeria and in which Nigeria was represented by Centre for 21st Century Issues East Africa, Latin America, Islands and South Africa and representatives of development organisations, NGOs and other groups working on the issues of gender and climate change. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Yvette Abrahams, South African Commission on Gender Equality, she inspired the grassroots men and women
Working groups was established and some key issues were identified some of which include land grabbing, access to resources, access to information, corruption, unemployment etc. After the identification of key issues, strategies, advocacy and networking were recommended to achieve the objectives of the conference. A copy of the statement from the Grassroot women's conference is attached