YWCA Convenes Women, Youths, and indigenous communities to draft position paper ahead of COP29

By Antynet Ford

Through the Voices for Just Climate Action project, the Young Women Christian Association- Kenya hosted a Pre-COP 29 consultative and dialogue workshop to provide a platform for the Youth, Women, Indigenous People, and Local Communities to discuss key negotiation agenda items for COP 29.

The Youth, Women, Indigenous People, and Local Communities were facilitated to develop a common position and made their demands for COP 29 ahead of the drafting of the Country’s position next week.

According to YWCA National Organizing Secretary Deborah Olwal, the meeting was to help the Youth, Women, Indigenous People, and Local Communities draft and develop a position paper to be shared with the government negotiator before the drafting of the Kenyan position ahead of COP29.

Olwal said the youths, women, and indigenous people should no longer wait for the future as it is now they are required to make demands.

“We are here to enhance capacity for women, youths, and marginalized communities. You no longer have to wait for the future for the time is now to make demands for an equitable climate finance and justice for the special groups.” She said.

“These groups should not be forgotten because they are adversely affected by climate change. The women, youths, and indigenous communities should be included in all processes and not only at the policy level because all problems they face originate from climate change.” She added.

As COP29 approaches, YWCA is focused on educating and informing the youths, women, and indigenous communities about their role through partnerships and collaborations, community learning and adaptability, and advancing their call for change.

Lobbying for reforms in the global financial regulations to encourage climate investment is critically essential.

This includes adjusting and strengthening community (and most importantly women) participation, risk management, and reporting requirements to incentivize low-carbon investments in building local communities and Indigenous people’s climate resilience.

Globally, it is now certainly clear that historical responsibility and equity place upon the global north the moral responsibility to provide climate finance.

An analysis of local climate finance policies and legislations against the “global good practice” for local people’s responsive, just, and adequate finance leaves a lot to be desired – no wonder, the set target of USD 100B for climate finance is yet to be met.