Human Rights of Women
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) hosted a successful two-day Continental Consultative Dialogue on the Impact of Climate Change on Women from 19 to 20 November 2011 in Pretoria under the theme: "Women Unite: Towards a Fair, Transparent, Equitable and Inclusive COP17/CMP7 and Beyond".
Women from 25 African countries, representing all sub-regions of the Continent, participated in the Dialogue, which culminated in the adoption of a Declaration. The Declaration consists of a set of recommendations and strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change on women.
It is expected that Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, in her capacity as President of the upcoming COP17/CMP7, will ensure that the provisions of the Declaration contribute towards a fair, transparent, equitable and inclusive outcome in Durban. (The full text of the Declaration is appended below).
The Continental Consultative Dialogue was preceded by several national preparatory consultative dialogues on the impact of climate change on women. This includes the Women's Summit held on 7 to 8 August 2011 in Polokwane, Limpopo province, and the Women in Media and Environment conference held in Pretoria on 3 to 4 September 2011.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognise the need to promote gender equality and empower women to participate in all facets of economic and social life with the aim of achieving sustainable development. Climate change poses a threat to sustainable development for the rural poor, especially women, who will suffer disproportionately from its impact. It is therefore against this background that the dialogues were held to mobilise and empower women to address global environmental challenges.
The Continental Consultative Dialogue was aimed at strengthening the voices of African women in the upcoming climate change negotiations and to find innovative approaches to mainstream a gender perspective in policies, programmes and other measures related to sustainable development and climate change.
Ms Baleka Mbete, Chair of the Progressive Women's Movement, provided a summary of the South African consultative dialogues on women and climate change. Ms Mbete highlighted the need for COP17/CMP7 negotiations to take into account the realities of the impact of climate change as experienced by the women themselves. A detailed report of the national consultations is available.
Ms Mary Robinson, founder of the Climate Justice Foundation and who also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002) and first female President of Ireland (1990-1997), addressed the Consultative Dialogue through a video message.
Ms Robinson's statement, themed "Building Effective Partnerships amongst women to secure climate justice: Towards Durban and Beyond", emphasised the importance of women's leadership in sustainable development and the climate change discourse in particular. Of importance, Ms Robinson highlighted the linkages between human rights, development and climate justice and the leadership role being played by the Troika Plus in the climate change negotiations.
The aforementioned organisations congratulated South Africa for the smooth preparations for COP17/CMP7 and their commitment to ensuring that women and African women in particular, are given an opportunity to influence the outcomes of COP17/CMP7.