Chad Archives - Women Speak

8 10, 2024

https://www.climateandforests-undp.org/news-and-stories/rural-women-drivers-change-forest-based-climate-action

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

Aparna Packer2025-07-09T23:27:27-04:00Tags: Panama, Guatemala, Chad|

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.

29 08, 2024

https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/resilient-women-farmers-in-chad-battle-climate-challenges-and-social-barriers/

Resilient women farmers in Chad battle climate challenges and social barriers

Aparna Packer2025-12-15T20:50:37-05:00Tags: Chad|

Despite women constituting more than 60% of Chad’s agricultural workforce, they are frequently denied land ownership and autonomy over agricultural work. Chad has been experiencing rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and deteriorating soil quality which have caused crop failures, insect infestations, and food insecurity. As a country where agriculture employs approximately 80% of the labor force, the consequences of the climate crisis are particularly powerful. Many women interviewed have recounted how climate change has affected their crop yields, cultivation plans, and economic livelihood. At the same time, it is still common for women to be expected to be especially responsible for childcare while simultaneously working as farmers and while being excluded from inheritance. This is an example of the nuanced challenges facing women’s rights that may seem separate from climate justice, but that provenly exacerbate climate change’s gendered effects. Addressing it requires prioritizing women’s experiences in order to avoid prescriptive approaches that may misinterpret sociocultural values through a purely Western lens. The AgriJob Booster Chad project (AJB-C) is an ongoing initiative with some potential. Georgine Néloumta, a leader of CELIAF, reports the intervention successfully removes practical barriers by providing participants with otherwise scarce and expensive resources, such as seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural equipment. Through eliminating these obstacles, the project supports women in growing and selling their own produce, which subsequently has caused them to become more included in household decisions regarding finances. The project nonetheless has imperfections and limitations. While it can be considered a start, it’s not enough. A multifaceted process that 1.) places women’s leadership at the forefront, 2.) coordinates with community leaders to change societal attitudes, 3.) encourages policy enforcement that center protection of women’s rights, and 4.) enables women to invest in their farms and businesses is required to build upon the successes and shortcomings of smaller-scale projects such as these. Resilient women farmers in Chad battle climate challenges and social barriers

28 08, 2024

https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/women-in-chad-defy-discrimination-and-violence-to-assert-their-rights-to-own-and-control-land/

Women in Chad defy discrimination and violence to assert their rights to own and control land

Aparna Packer2025-12-15T20:55:47-05:00Tags: Chad|

Following the story of Milla Nemoudji, a young woman from a village in southern Chad who divorced her husband due to abuse, this article outlines the struggles women face in sustaining their livelihoods in communities where access to land is controlled by men. With customary law often applied over statutory law, many women are excluded from inheritance and land ownership. These processes are regulated by village chiefs and depend on annual payments and the mediation of male relatives. For Nemoudji, this situation changed when she joined N-Bio Solutions, an initiative founded in 2018 by Adèle Noudjilembaye. Noudjilembaye, an agriculturalist and activist from a neighboring village, has since established five village collectives aimed at supporting women by negotiating with village chiefs and facilitating the leasing of land from other residents. While these collectives are constrained by limited financial resources and the potential risks women may face for participating, they have already begun to transform agricultural practices in Binmar, where women have adopted more sustainable methods such as crop rotation and organic farming.

26 04, 2024

https://gca.org/building-gender-inclusive-infrastructure-strategies-for-climate-resilience-in-africa/

Building Gender-Inclusive Infrastructure for Climate Resilience in Africa

Aparna Packer2025-06-11T23:00:12-04:00Tags: Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia|

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

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/aug/25/new-maps-and-local-knowledge-power-chad-climate-fightback-hindou-oumarou-ibrahim

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

Katherine2023-03-05T23:46:25-05:00Tags: Chad|

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

http://voices.nationalgeographic.org/2017/05/29/national-geographic-emerging-explorer-hindou-oumarou-ibrahim-raising-the-voice-of-indigenous-climate-knowledge/

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

Katherine2017-09-22T18:33:34-04:00Tags: Chad|

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