COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW 66) AFRICA PRE-CSW66 CONSULTATIONS

Theme: “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.”

Ministerial Segment, Monday 28th February 2022.

These disproportionate impacts and risks are the result of existing gender inequalities and discriminatory gender norms. Situations of vulnerability and risk are therefore not simply created from exposure to climate and environment hazards or disasters but include a whole set of economically and socially created drivers that shape the resilience of women and girls in the region, their prospects for recovery and contribute to their marginalization or exclusion from policy processes and decision-making spaces.

Gender inequalities that influence women’s ability to cope with the effects of climate change in Africa include:

Women’s lack of rights, access, and control of resources, particularly land, forests, waterways, ocean and marine resources, which weaken their adaptive capacities, increase their insecurity, limit their livelihood opportunities and limit their decision-making power on the use of such resources. It is proven that countries with higher female parliamentary representation are more likely to set aside protected land areas as well as addressing the adverse impacts of climate change.

Women’s dependence on the informal economy for employment, characterized by lack of labour rights and social protection as well as myriad occupational hazards, leading to increased risks of economic insecurity and ill health. The proportion of women with comprehensive social protection legal coverage is around 3.9%, compared to 10.8% of men in Africa.

Poor and hazardous housing and lack of sustainable water, sanitation and energy infrastructure and services, particularly in informal settlements, can create vulnerable situations for home-based workers and stay-at-home residents, often predominantly women. In over 70 % of households where water must be fetched women and girls are the primary water carriers. Around 85.7% of households in sub-Saharan Africa rely on unclean fuels for cooking and heating, with devastating effects on the health of women and children, who usually spend more time in the home.

Women’s disproportionate share of unpaid care, domestic and communal work and the associated time constraints that intensify in areas facing impacts of climate change, making recovery more difficult. In Africa, women spend 3.4 times more in unpaid care work than their male counterparts.

High prevalence of violence against women and girls (with 33% of women aged 15-49 in Sub-Saharan Africa experiencing violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime) and lack of access to justice, which worsen in climate and environmental crises. In many African countries, plural legal systems result in discriminatory practices including in control and utilization of land and other productive resources, despite the adoption of laws promoting equality between men and women.

Transition to the green economy will create opportunities in the form of green jobs in new sectors.

The extent of the climate emergency will force countries in Africa to transition towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption in the next decades. This can bring new opportunities for women and girls in the region. In sub-Saharan Africa, renewable energy, sustainable construction and infrastructure, and the circular economy will generate millions of new jobs in the coming years. While women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa are well positioned to access certain sectors that will create green jobs such as agriculture, waste management or tourism, they find large barriers to enter others such as renewable energy or sustainable construction where the bulk of the green jobs, or those with better conditions, will be created. Whether women access those opportunities or are left out of the benefits associated with the green transition in the region will depend on the policies implemented by governments in the short term.

Agriculture deserves particular attention in the region in the context of the discussion of climate action and gender equality. It is a major sector in the region in terms of contribution to GDP, employment generation and in particular contribution to women’s employment. Agriculture is also a significant contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. A renewed focus is emerging on sustainable agricultural and food systems and practices. Gender-responsive climate-resilient agriculture aims to address the different constraints faced by women and men farmers in a changing climate and to reduce gender inequalities while ensuring equal benefits from interventions and practices. Aligned strategies promote gender-responsive sustainable energy infrastructure and technology to mitigate and to adapt to climate change, such as solar-powered irrigation pumps or decentralized renewable-energy micro-grids in areas that national electricity grids do not reach.

National laws, policies and strategic frameworks for climate, environment, and disaster risk reduction continue to fail to recognize and integrate women’s and girls’ needs systematically. Frequent lack of gender equality commitments in, and gender-responsive implementation and financing of, national laws and policies on climate, environment and disaster risk management; and institutional barriers that prevent cross-sectoral integration between gender equality, disaster risk reduction, climate action and environmental management and development planning, all hinder gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Against the above backdrop and building on past experiences in undertaking pre-CSW consultations, the Africa Union Commission (AUC), Women, Gender and Youth Directorate in partnership with United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment (UN Women) and the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is convening the Africa Pre-CSW66 consultations. Africa Ministerial consultations will be held on 28th of February 2022.

Read more in the attached concept note below.