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Wednesday 30 September 2009

West African women affected by climate change...

I was browsing through twitter posts the other day, and found a very interesting and to say the least distressing article on how climate change is affecting the lives of many women and girls in the West African region.

We have been hearing alot in the past few years about climate change and the many negative effects it may have on the earth and its inhabitants, but I am worried that all this news may desensitise the populations of the Western World towards the plights of thos living in impoverished areas of the globe. Therefore I feel that these issues should be followed and looked at seriously as the lives of many are at stake due to the irresponsability of the few.

I have included an extract of the article in order to give you a taster and hopefully you will follow the link (included) and read the whole thing:

"A U.N. official has told a regional conference in Togo that climate change in West Africa is disproportionally affecting women and girls.

Human rights workers and senior government officials converged to discuss climate change this week in Togo. U.N. Development Fund for Women Regional Director Cecile Mukarubuga asked the 89 participants to consider the extraordinary challenges women are facing.

"The negative impact of climate change effects the agriculture and food production, and we all know that in Africa women contribute to 80 percent of the food production," said Mukarubuga. "When they are hit by climate change negative impact, they lose all their livelihood means, and they lose their source of income. And we also know because they are not owners of the land and the access to land is difficult for them, they are not coping easily after a disaster."

Mukarubuga says climate change is affecting drop out rates among young girls who quit school to help their struggling mothers."... Read the full article by clicking here.

We must pay more attention to the suffering of those who have not asked for this climate change, and do something to help the local communities in peril. Please view the Trips section in order to see what you can do to make a difference.