Climate Change on Women and Children

Coast Women In Development (CWID) recognizes that rural women are the most vulnerable to climate change, the husbands of these women go to the urban areas in search for employment leaving the women behind, incase of climate change disaster, women and children are forced to relocate to the nearest safe place, children are forced out of school until they are safely settled, during this period the women and children are prone to waterborne diseases and famine.

Impacts of climate change in Africa are mostly associated with water, droughts, floods and this changes affects agriculture, infrastructure, health and energy thus the challenge of climate proofing requires improving the ways in which water is managed and used, these investments are costly but can create jobs and enable communities to secure livelihoods.

Community participation can make themselves own the projects, by investing in water storage facilities. Communal dams and water tanks can be built alongside the rainwater source to be used when the rains are low. In these projects, issues of employment creation and economic growth for women and the youth should be considered before they are implemented.

Governments should capacity build the staff in meteorological stations to be able to capture and disseminate information correctly so that people can be prepared for climate changes. Best practices in effective data collection and dissemination should be invented in local communities.

Since the government is slow in information dissemination, NGO's can be incorporated because they are the ones who work on the grassroots where people are affected the most, thus funds from donors and private investors partnership should be encouraged

For the youths and young scholars, climate change studies should be incorporated in the schools curriculum as a way of increasing awareness in fighting climate change.

Women also need to be empowered in conservation of water systems by mobilizing women to form women groups and fund them, build for them storage facilities which they can manage for purposes of conservation.

The concept of upgrading slums should be incorporated in national policies, youths and women should be encouraged to seek employment in order to upgrade the slums, i.e. in sanitation, construction. 

It is evident that the agriculture sector is among the most vulnerable to climate change, this is clearly shown by the rising food prices. 

The African governments, NGOs and Civil Society should move fast and revitalize farmer education in line with climate change because it is unpredictable, measures should also be put to ensure that farmers are actively involved in climate change and disaster risk issues.

Incentives such as schools and employment opportunities should be created to enable people live in their local areas, people need to go back and develop their communities. Civil society has a role in making people appreciate and want to stay and develop their community.

NGOs and Civil Society need greater activism on avoiding deforestation. They should set up platforms for knowledge management. Input from research organizations is critical and experiences on good practices should be documented and shared.

Regional networking should be is important because this is a national disaster and a human plight that if not addressed now would have great negative impact in the world. NGO and civil society trainings should be encouraged in order to address this issue effectively.

The media should be encouraged to consider climate change a top agenda in their news, this can be done by capacity building reporters to editors, awards should also be given to those leading in disseminating environmental issues because this is a crisis that has befallen us and need to be prioritized 

From the African Commission Conference on Climate Change and Economic Growth we hope to address the effects of climate change during our community mobilizing and during the conferences that we will get a chance to attend.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

Coast Women In Development (CWID) wishes many returns to Joyce Laboso and Beatrice Kones for their victory in their respective Sotik and Bomet constituencies’ by-elections. This is a clear indication that women are rising up to contest for the top positions. It also indicates that citizens are becoming confident in women leadership.

CWID also salutes all the other women who aspired for the seats, it is encouraging to note that more women are having courage in themselves to vie for positions in the government. 

Women have always been left out in the major positions in the public service sector, this has mired their participation and voice to be heard in most of the activities carried out in the government that would otherwise have an impact to their lives. 

Though women have been actively involved in backing up political parties, their number in parliament has continued to remain much less than that of men, this has led to their limited participation in politics and decision making at local levels. 

But with a show similar to the recent by election, the number of women in the cabinet could rise to greater heights. This can only be possible if other women in different constituencies follow suit and vie for those seats.

Having more women in the parliament is the only way to help trim down most the predicaments women and the girl child face ranging from Gender Based Violence, rape, early motherhood to HIV and poverty. 

The government should however increase the number of women in senior public service positions and address the existing gender concerns in the nation’s socio-economic, cultural and political way of life. 

Kenyan women should also stand and fight for their rights because CWID views Joyce and Beatrice’s victory as a breakthrough to women’s freedom to enjoy their positions without any nature of prejudice. 

One of CWID’s main objectives is to sensitize women on their rights and mobilize them at the community level to contend for the positions available in the society so that they can be represented in all kinds of leadership. 

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP. 

CWID congratulates Violet Awuori's election into the Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination Against Women (CDAW), she was the only African Woman chosen from 
the 18 candidates who vied for the eleven positions in the UN body. 

In Kenya , women have still been left out in the major positions in the Public Service 
sector, this has mired their participation and voice to be heard in most of the activities 
carried out in the government that would otherwise have an impact to their lives. 

Even in the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission Bill, Waki and Cockar 
Commissions, no woman has been engaged in the chairing committee, women leaders 
have been left out yet they are the ones who understand the predicaments their fellow 
women and children have had to put up with during the skirmishes and the effects the 
budget has had on them. 

Women and the girl child are exposed to many socio-cultural dangers in the society 
which has dragged them behind in the fight for their rights. Other hindrances to attain 
their full development rights include lack of capacity building, customary practices and 
poverty. 

Women have been actively involved in political parties but their number in Parliament 
has continued to remain much less than that of men, this has led to their limited 
participation in politics and decision making at local levels. 

The only way forward is for the new constitution reform based on the Bomas draft to 
issue a directive against some of the problems women and the girl child face such as 
Female Genital Mutilation, Rape and Gender Based Violence. The media should also 
advocate against such practices. 

There is also a need for the appointment of women in District and Divisional 
administration offices and civic education to the women so that they can understand and 
advocate for their rights. 

Locally we have to mobilize women at the community level to participate in vying for the 
positions available in the society so that they can be represented everywhere. 

The government should however increase the number of women in senior public service 
positions and address the existing gender concerns in the nation's socio-economic, 
cultural and political way of life. 

Kenyan women should also stand and fight for their rights because CWID views Violet's 
victory as a breakthrough to women's freedom to enjoy their positions without any nature 
of prejudice. 

We also look forward to lots of women rise in such positions to help trim down most the 
quandary women and the girl child face ranging from Gender Based Violence, rape, 
early motherhood to HIV and poverty. 

At seventeen, though not an adult yet, she must have thought about it before committing that serious offence, it is still unclear whether the girl used the knife to defend herself or she had it all planned out. No one is also coming out in the open to unravel the problems the two have had which led the girl to murdering her stepfather in cold blood. 

Coast Women In Development (CWID) feels the girl's side of the story must be heard, people should know the agony she must have gone through before she is rightfully judged, murder is a serious offence in Kenya and the fact that she is under the age of 18 creates even more concern.. We believe she did not just wake up one day and looked for an excuse to stab her step father to death. 

Who knows, maybe the man, considering he was not her real father and that they did not have a good relationship, he might have discriminated or abused her in one way or the other. 

The issue is also raising eye brows because this time the story is the other way round, a girl has killed a man, if it was vice versa, it would have been a usual occurrence. We do not support the girl's act because it is against humanity and the law, but we hope she will be fairly judged. Though her act has painted a bad picture of her in the society, and she may be considered not fit to be in the society, we hope she will get counseling so that she can be accepted back. 

ABORTION

Just recently, our residents woke up to a shocking incidence where a supposedly two months old baby had been shallowly buried alive but seemed to have died later due to lack of oxygen.
The infant had been shallowly buried and its legs together with one hand were raised up with the fingers coiled, a sign that the poor little soul had died in the process of fighting for its life.
It amazes how some people can be that ruthless, how they expect to continue living happily with their conscience knowing that they cut off the life of an innocent soul.
It has also emerged that not only unborn babies are aborted, girls and women now throw away children even after mothering them for some days or months.
Well, a lot has been said in the unending debate on whether abortion should be legalized or not and no matter the teachings, back street abortion still exists in our country
Quack doctors still assist women especially young girls to abort and most of them have lost their lives in the process.
Maybe another solution should be sought, most of the women who happened to have witnessed the infant still buried in the shallow grave seemed to have other ways out of doing away with the infants.
‘If you know you cannot bring it up due to your own reasons, you better sneak out of the hospital and leave it there’ Mary Karanja suggested, adding that the baby would be safe and alive there other than throw it away somewhere where it is going to die.She said that it will be a guarantee that the baby will be taken care of by the nurses and maybe end up in one the children homes.
Others even suggested they would rather drop the baby at the church, ‘If I am incapable of raising my child, I would just attend a mass service and during the confusion when the mass has ended, I simply place it in one of the benches and leave unnoticed’ Catherine revealed.She believes that the child will be in the safe hands of God’s people and probably end up in the orphanages. Some even disclosed that they would identify a woman who they know is unable to give birth and maybe yearning for one, then drop the baby at her doorstep such that if the barren woman finds the abandoned baby, ‘She’d think it is a blessing from God’ quoted Amina.

Others contemplated handing the baby to a stranger, pretending that they are going in a nearby shop or toilet and promising to come back in a minute, only for them to varnish in the thin air for good.
Some were wise enough to think of taking it to a children’s home or an orphanage but since a lot of protocols always have to be followed, they would just drop it at the gate and disappear living the rest of the work to those running the institutions.This is better off they say, than throwing it in a garbage or pit latrines, drowning it in the river, burying it or even strangling it to death.
The issue on the legalization of abortion is now out of question, the only way forward is controlling unsafe sexual activities.
We surely cannot control abortion if young girls still involve themselves in irresponsible sexual behaviors since it is the root cause of abortion.
And since we cannot control people’s sexual activities because those are private matters, we ought to find a solution that will look into the lives of the innocent infants.CWID knows that the youths are the most affected breed because at their age they are sexually active such that on some occasions they forget using protection. That’s why one of our objectives is to offer counseling on reproductive health and we discourage them from premarital sexual activities, we also counsel girls and women on abortion.If we cannot take care of some of these problems before they are out, we ought to have a control measure when the damage has already been done.
If we cannot stop abortion at its early stage, then we should look for a way of helping the abandoned infants out.
Those innocent lives really need to be saved, the health ministry in our view should come up with an initiative that will facilitate the disposal and rescue the infants that is, for those stubborn and merciless minds that still opt for throwing away babies.
One woman lamented, ‘Who knows, maybe that poor soul lying on its early grave was to be a Pilot, a Chief Executive Officer of one of the biggest companies, a Doctor, a Pope, a Lawyer, a great Media personality or even a great Human Rights Advocate.