The Director at the Department of Gender under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in the Bono Region, Joycelyn Adii, has said the empowerment of women and girls should be pushed to a level where they would have an equal voice in decision-making.

According to her, this is crucial at a time when women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

This she argued is because women constitute the majority of the world's poor and are more dependent on the natural resources that climate change threatens the most.

Mrs. Adii made the remarks at a day’s stakeholder consultative meeting on climate change during the International Women’s Day celebration in Sunyani, organized by Actionaid Ghana.

The celebration, under the global theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, and a campaign theme of #BreaktheBias brought together representatives from the Gender, Agriculture, and Agroecology departments, Traditional Council, and Rightholder Organisations, including Young Urban Women Movement, Activista, and Smallholder Women Farmers.

The Regional Director said the theme recognizes the key contributions of women and girls, who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, to build a more sustainable future for all.

She noted that discussions on climate change and sustainability issues, which would continue to impact the environment, economics, and social development, would not succeed without the deep involvement of women, who are the most vulnerable and marginalized.

She, however, attributed the lack of women's involvement in key decision makings, in Ghana, for instance, where women forms 52% of the population, to factors including cultural values, lack of access to training, technology, and financial resources, and limited access to political decision making due to underrepresentation.

Joycelyn Adii advocates for “women to be empowered to have a voice and be equal players in decision making” because “their participation and effective, powerful leadership skills would result in more effective climate action”.

“Without gender equality today, a sustainable future, and an equal future remain beyond our reach”, she insisted.

Actionaid Ghana’s Brong Ahafo Regional Programs Manager, Yaw Osei Boateng, in his address said, with long-lasting heat waves, record-breaking fires, floods, and draught, strategic measures need to be implemented to mitigate the effect on national economies, lives, and livelihoods across the globe.

He revealed that a study conducted by Actionaid Ghana discovered gaps in climate change policies in Ghana, as well as low levels of awareness by the populace.

Aside from a campaign to strengthen resilient livelihoods, Actionaid Ghana is also seeking equity as countries that have done the most to cause climate pollution, suffer the least impacts, and vice versa.

Mr. Osei Boateng said, “Climate justice, therefore, requires rich polluting countries to do their fair share of climate action to cut down on their greenhouse gases and provide climate finance for vulnerable low-income countries to be able to implement their climate adaptation and mitigation actions.”

Participants, including the Dwantoahemaa and President of the Sunyani Market Women Association, Nana Aboa Boahemaa, urged women to position themselves for decision-making positions and do things in their small ways to protect the environment.

They advocated for the halting of selling foodstuff at the market with polythene bags, but rather, like in the olden days, buy into environmentally friendly bags or baskets.