Garissa: Communities across the country have been urged to take up active roles in the climate change mitigation efforts since they are the most affected by its effects. This observation was made during a 3-day climate change action symposium that brought together community champions, policymakers, community members, youth activists, and women to discuss mitigation measures in Garissa.
According to Kenya News Agency, the meeting was convened by Womankind Kenya, a non-governmental organization, which provided a platform for the participants to come up with solutions and policies to safeguard livelihoods against harsh climate change effects. A monitoring and evaluation officer at the organization, Carol Rotich, emphasized the need to create awareness among community members on the effects and mitigation efforts of climate change and adopt smart ways of coping.
Rotich also noted the importance of developing African climate justice narratives and spreading them through different platforms to trigger behavioral change among communities. 'We have been able to develop the narratives using different forms like art, poetry, music, and panel discussions, and we hope the narratives will create a better impact apart from raising awareness, hoping it will create more behavior change, where the community will be able to adapt to climate changes,' she said. She added that the narratives could influence policy, planning, decision-making, and inclusivity for all stakeholders in the mitigation efforts.
An assistant chief in Garissa, Ubba Abdullahi, highlighted that women, children, and people living with disabilities are the most affected groups during times of drought or floods. She called for more elaborate ways of teaching them adaptive measures and urged the public to support President William Ruto's initiative to plant 15 billion trees to increase forest cover and reduce climate-related disasters.
Yusuf Abdi, a climate champion in Garissa, advocated for the formulation of county-specific policies that are well-resourced by county governments and the development of networks to address and sensitize communities on the impacts of climate change. 'Climate change is here with us; therefore, we have to act and do something as stakeholders, government officers, community members, and policymakers,' Yusuf said. He added that climate change impacts lives, livelihoods, the education system, and infrastructure, recalling an incident where floods disrupted access to food and led to conflicts over limited resources.