GLOBAL WOMENS CLIMATE CHANGE

Women are most affected by environmental challenges of Climate change in our community directly as follows,

Drinking water - majority of women in slum dwellers have no adequate water for their family daily use, thus women are everywhere searching for water with containers. There are water vendors who sells per container Kshs. 10. The water is contaminated not suitable for human consumption, you find that families contracts water borne diseases Cholera, amoeba etc. as result.

we also do not have modern forms of enery such as electricity fuels ,better waste management, and drainage.

I live near the Dandora dumping site whereby the whole of Nairobi Town refuse is dumped there. So, the neighbours houses iron sheets roof are brown in colour due to pollution. Majority of the children born there have contracted throat infections diseases. Am a Community Health Worker/Volunteer, we meet for Health care Seminars/Workshops. Scavengers are everywhere, fries, Air Pollution etc..

children cannot concentrate with education they are off and on in classes due to sickness.

SANITATION

Lack of access to proper sanitation and improved sanitation affects women so most them are single parents or widows due to HIV pandemic . Husbands are the ones who die first because majority refuse to accept and take ARVs.

In most of the slums,the method they use is flying toilets. They use nylon paperbags for long calls and through them anyhowly at night. You can imagine if by bad luck that stuff finds you. They urinate in containers and pour it out in the morning, women are affected most they are the ones who wakes up early to do all that work.

The Solutions I and my Community are Implementing is On 26th we had organised an EVENT. We had organized clean/ups also Placards that our Women and our children went round advocacy for residents not to dump garbage everywhere. So, we stood next to a an illegal dumping site photos were taken by Activists and also UNEP staff.

We have a Football Team of old Women in my Community as old as 70yrs some we played football to mark the day. We had played football even on 21st September to mark the INTERNATIONAL WORLD PEACE DAY. Unfortunately, i dont have a digital mobile phone or a camera, I would have taken all those photos and posted to you.

It is very important that Womens voices are heard and included in the decision making process around climate change, in that once given a such an opportunity. Like myself am a chiefs Elder Administration, I target all the needy Older persons, persons with Disability and Orphans and Vulnerable Children in my Community. I visit/guide/ show enumerators on who to target in the Government Cash Transfer Programm. Once identified and Targeted they qualify to get Kshs. 2000 monthly. So, I know how to mobilize. Whenever there is any awareness, i.e Polio am there with other women. So passing any message is never difficult to me. Am a leader,Servant, social and friendly to all and that applies to majority of women. Thus, women are transformers, infact women influence, changes the world for the better. They should be given such opportunity for a better world.