A new window for women to address climate change impact on them

The project Officer Yasmin Jahan of SBC- Borhundddin has been enrolled in the Gender Equality and Climate Alliance (GECA) committee & got an opportunity to attend the national level conference titled “Women leading the way; influencing policy& collaborating on climate”. The Gender Equality and Climate Alliance-Bangladesh recognizes that climate change disproportionately impacts women in Bangladesh. They commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change. They are more likely to be economically dependent than men and have less access to education and information that would allow them to manage climate-related risks to agriculture and livestock. Women make up the majority of the world's poor population. They are the key climate actors and manage certain types of climate-adaptive livestock, crop and livelihood diversification, food storage and processing practices, informal seed systems, and networks. The GECA advocates addressing these gendered impacts of climate change by promoting gender-responsive policies and programs at the national and local levels. The GECA began its journey in April 2023 with a virtual dialogue involving organizations and networks at both national and local levels. Since its inception, GECA has organized various activities, including workshops and formation meetings of grassroots committees across 13 districts and upazilas from Bangladesh's floodplain, haor, coast, and hill regions. MJF has been serving as the secretariat for GECA. Following this, a GECA conference organized in Dhaka on 16 February, 2025with a view to creating an ample opportunity to introduce the alliance at the national level, hear from the grassroots forums, advocate for gender-responsive climate policies and programs, and create an opportunity for collaborative climate actions. The objectives of the conference of the Gender Equality and Climate Alliance - Bangladesh are to: • Facilitating Engagement Between Grassroots and National Representatives of the Gender Equality and Climate Alliance-Bangladesh • Amplify unheard voices by empowering grassroots forums where women leaders share their stories, climate actions, and challenges. • Strengthen collaboration between grassroots and national climate actors to promote inclusive climate action, gender equality, and economic opportunities while empowering climate-vulnerable women as leaders in resilience efforts. The honorable guest were Sharmeen s. Murshid Hon. Advisor Ministry of Women & child affairs, representative from Embassy of Sweeden, representative from Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, representatives from EU. This day-long event has opened an opportunity for interaction, interpersonal sharing, and collaborative actions to promote gender equality and climate-resilient initiatives at the grassroots to national levels. It will also help climate actors collate insights for policy suggestions and shape implementation strategies and actions.