Chad

/Tag: Chad

 

8 10, 2024

Rural women, the drivers of change in forest-based climate action

2025-07-09T23:27:27-04:00Tags: , , |

Rural women around the world serve as community leaders, blending modern knowledge with ancient wisdom to protect their communities. They are among the most knowledgeable stewards of forest landscapes and stand at the forefront of environmental protection efforts. Briseida Iglesias, part of the Indigenous Guna community in Panama, is an environmental sustainability and cultural heritage advocate within her community. She promotes traditional plant knowledge, educates younger generations on forest stewardship, and plans for her community’s resilience to climate impacts. Sara Omi, a leader of the Emberá people of Panama, works alongside other Indigenous women across Mesoamerica to propose solutions for combating climate change and preserving traditional knowledge. Aissatou Oumarou, a climate activist from Chad and a member of the Mbororo Fulani tribe, draws attention to the challenges rural and Indigenous women face. She notes the biggest hurdles are access to land and water, support from authorities, and the environmental impact of outside actors on Indigenous territories. Nana Marina Cruz, spiritual guide and cultural advocate from the Maya Tz’utujil Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala, uses her voice to hold world leaders accountable. She shares a “plea for conscience” and condemns their pursuit of wealth at the expense of Mother Earth. According to the authors, these sentiments align with the UN-REDD Programmes’ goals. This knowledge and advisory programme by the United Nations focuses on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries and fighting climate impacts through forest solutions. Local women play an ‘indispensable’ role in REDD+, and the Programme has a duty to provide a platform for them.

26 04, 2024

Building Gender-Inclusive Infrastructure for Climate Resilience in Africa

2025-06-11T23:00:12-04:00Tags: , , |

Emma Mayhew and Grace Muinga stress the need for incorporating a gendered perspective in climate-resilient infrastructure development to enhance effectiveness and avoid reinforcing inequalities. The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) integrates gender considerations into its projects, aiming to create infrastructure that serves everyone equitably amid the growing pressures of climate change. In Kenya, GCA’s climate risk analysis found that women are disproportionately affected by infrastructure disruptions from climate hazards like flooding and extreme heat. It also identified a gender-based digital divide and low female participation in decision-making. The analysis recommended collecting gender-disaggregated data, engaging stakeholders in gender-responsive ways, and implementing gender-responsive budgeting. In N’Djamena, Chad, GCA’s assessments highlighted the increased challenges women face during climate events given their primary responsibilities for childcare, water collection, and food gathering. Proposed solutions focused on reducing women’s burdens, improving access to resources, creating income opportunities, and boosting women’s roles in community decision-making. In Borana, Ethiopia, GCA’s gender action plan addressed the severe impact of water scarcity on women, who spend hours fetching water. Recommendations included forming gender-balanced management committees and addressing social norms that heighten vulnerabilities for women and girls during climate events.

25 08, 2022

‘Grandmothers Are Our Weather App’: New Maps And Local Knowledge Power Chad’s Climate Fightback

2023-03-05T23:46:25-05:00Tags: |

Mbororo environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim has been working with communities in her native Chad to create maps, settling disputes regarding the sharing of natural resources. Ibrahim and representatives from EOS Data analytics used high-resolution satellite images to work alongside Indigenous leaders from more than twenty villages to map 1,728 square kilometers, collaboratively adding important markers like medicinal trees, sacred forests, rivers, settlements, roads, and more. Each community was given a laminated copy of the finished map, and Ibrahim is now working on a similar project in the Lake Chad area. Ibrahim hopes that her mapping projects will demonstrate the combined power of Indigenous knowledges and technology as a response to the climate crisis. Photo credit: IISB

29 05, 2015

National Geographic Emerging Explorer Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Raising The Voice Of Indigenous Climate Knowledge

2017-09-22T18:33:34-04:00Tags: |

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is a woman working to collect Indigenous knowledge about natural resources in Chad as part of a 3-D mapping project. She also represents her community in climate discussions at the United Nations. She describes a childhood that straddled two worlds: school in the capital city of N’Djamena and tending cows among family in the Mbororo. Now she bridges the gap between the Indigenous people who intimately know their land and the governments making decisions many miles away. Photo credit: AFPAT