Gender Equality Explored at UN Climate Change COP18/CMP8

Doha, November 27 (QNA) - The important role women can play in tackling climate change was highlighted during COP18/CMP8 underway in Doha. Gender equality was also promoted at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change . Stories of how women successfully faced the challenge of climate change have been highlighted at the first ever Gender Day organised as part of the UN Climate Change Conference. The day included the launching of the book: Thuto Ya Batho Women and Climate Change: Teachings from our People, written by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the South African MP who was President of COP17/COP7, the previous UN Climate Change Conference held in Durban last year. The Chairman of Qatar's Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah and other dignitaries lent support to event. The ceremony , at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) was one of several held to mark Gender Day, which, among other things, raises awareness of the fact that women are disproportionately affected by adverse climate change. Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), expressed her pleasure at having established Gender Day as a tradition that will likely continue at the annual UN Climate Change Conferences. "Women are enablers of food security," she said, adding that women are "agents of change" and "bringers of solutions". The event also served as the launch of a Legacy Project marking the steps that were taken in Durban last year to carve out a space for dialogue and awareness of the specific challenges with regards to climate change. Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland who is now a prominent human rights activist, said the approach to solving climate change issues has been rightly moving to a "more people-centered, that means more women-centered" focus. Robinson thanked HE Al Attiyah for his continuing support and for Qatar s role so far in hosting Gender Day in Doha. "You have already proved more than on our side," she said. Amina Mesdoua, director of Family Policy Division at Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development, said that the day was significant because women play a central role in family life and in their communities. She said: "It is important to include a Gender Day because women represent half of humanity; they have central roles and responsibilities in their family s lives and in their communities. They have different views and knowledge of access to and control of natural resources." Mesdoua said that women have an important role to play in helping to tackle climate change. She said: "Women have opportunities to participate in decisions regarding natural resources use, they could play an important role in developing solutions for a more sustainable use of those resources. Ignoring gender in environment distorts the understanding of human impact on mother nature." (QNA)