Here's the thing. We can talk about gender and its relationship to climate, the role of women in the battle against climate change, and the effects of climate change on gender all day everyday. That dialogue is happening around this subject is an acceptible reality. Climate change is (rather should always be) a critical topic of discourse. What we can't do is talk at the people most affected. We can't simply talk around them, study them, think about them, and convene conferences in their name.

More importantly, the affected must be allowed to voice their opinions, their concerns, their realities, and their solutions. Climate change doesn't just severely affect nameless, mass groupings of peoples. It touches, destroys and transforms the lives of real people, who are simply separated by geography and economic status.

Here at C4C, we feel that your personal stories matter, that they are important to consider as we all gear up to find solutions that will allow us to live happier lives and survive an ever changing environment.

Everyone should tell their stories, if for nothing else than for that one chance that someone will hear it and relate to our lives, our struggles, and our ambitions. Tell your stories so that you can emerge from under the weight of being a number, a statistic, an unidentified face in the crowd.

Today, we decided to let Africa speak for herself. We interviewed Milly Kugonza. She is a mother, wife, preacher, and an elected official in a small village of Kikuube in Uganda. The village has no access to electricity, or running water - two of the categories we discuss weekly. But Milly's story isn't simply about highlighting a woman in an African village, her story is the start of connecting the many threads that make up the global human tapestry we live under. 

Milly shares how her village deals with climate change. She talks about the challenge of accessing water during dry seasons and the creative ways in which her community has devised to harvest rain water. These are challeges and solutions that would really apply anywhere on the continent.

How does Milly's experience resonate with you? Could you use some of the solutions her village uses in your life or in your community? Climate change might impact us in various ways, but one thing that unites us all is the desire to make the best of out of life.

From February 18 to 19, the twelve country project teams that form the World Bank/Global Environment Facility Sahel and West Africa Program (SAWAP) in support of the Great Green Wall are meeting at the Africa Union to share knowledge and best practices to enhance the resilience of African landscapes, lives, and livelihoods – especially the poorest who deeply depend on natural resources for environmental and food security.

SAWAP, a $1.1 billion flexible investment umbrella with 12 country-led investment operations, is the World Bank and GEF’s contribution to the African initiative to help transform the region into a stable, sustainable, resilient region. The program was developed in 2011 under the TerrAfrica partnership, and is reinforced by a regional hub project Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services (BRICKS). With the support of Connect4Climate BRICKS facilitates cooperation among the country projects and Great Green Wall partners on operational problems and solutions facing country project teams.

Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union, interviewed by Ethiopian media. She stresses importance of the Great Green Wall Initiative addressing the conference. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

“The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative is the first and only program conceived, engineered and created by the Heads of State of the African Union,” stated Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union. “This Wall is made up of the multimillion dollar programs like the SAWAP and BRICKS, multiple sectors and stakeholders, and ultimately the ‘ecological infrastructure’ that generates jobs, food and water security.”

The Second SAWAP Conference is being held in Ethiopia to celebrate the country's successful Sustainable Land Management Program that has so far restored 15 million hectares and transformed the lives of 30 million people in less than 10 years.

H.E. Ato Sileshi Getahun, State Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia, emphasized benefits of Sustainable Land Management. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

“The poor are affected the most by climate change. Sustainable Land Management helps build resilience and reduce communities’ vulnerability, while also creating pathways out of poverty. … We look forward to greening out landscapes and empowering communities to build their resilience,” said H.E. Ato Sileshi Getahun, State Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia.

Drylands in Sub-Saharan Africa account for 43% of land area, 50% of population – about 325 million people and 75% of agriculture land used for both crops and livestock production. Poverty is heavily concentrated in drylands with about 75% of Africa’s poor people and by 2030, 40 to 100 million more people could be sensitive to shocks.

“It is becoming more and more apparent that addressing the effects of climate change requires multidimensional interventions and the concerted efforts of all of us,” said Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. “As World Bank President Jim Kim says, resilience is about development and development is about resilience. One cannot exist without the other. That is why the World Bank has been working with Governments and partners to help affected countries find lasting solutions to the challenges they face.”

 

Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia highlights importance of resilience to address climate change and poverty. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

BRICKS is being implemented by three regional centers: the Interstate Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) and West and Central Africa Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Each organization delivers specialty services to the SAWAP portfolio to enhance quality and promote regional integration.

“The merit of the BRICKS’s arrangement is that it allows us, African regional centers of excellence, to collaborate together in a united way, up our game and leverage our capacity,” said Dr. Djime Adoum, Executive Secretary of the CILSS. “OSS is in charge of geospatial applications and monitoring and evaluation, IUCN is a leader in biodiversity and communications strategies and CILSS is responsible for exchange of best practices and knowledge management. This allows us to offer effective services to the 12 country project teams and respond to their needs.”   

The Second SAWAP Conference brings together 12 country proejcts under BRICKS to enhance sustainable land management. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

Daniel Chávez Ortiz is known as The Ecological Boy in his hometown Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco, in Mexico. Why? Daniel, 11, has been developing environmental campaigns to tackle climate change.

“It all started when I was six years old. My mother received an e-mail with a presentation about how batteries aren’t properly recycled, and that they have been poisoning the water,” Daniel told Connect4Climate. “After I saw that presentation, I started to cry, because I realized how people can harm the planet.”

That email set the ball rolling. Shortly after, Daniel decided he wanted to spread the message and “educate everyone.” More specifically, he wanted to teach people what to do with used batteries.

[video:https://vimeo.com/126840694]

 

His first project took place at his school. Daniel brought a container to his classroom andencouraged his classmates to collect used batteries. “When I realized how well it had gone, I got excited and so I decided to go to other schools to do the same thing,” Daniel said, encouraged by the feedback.

After that, Daniel was invited to appear on a local television show, where he learned about the concept of global warming. At that point, Daniel’s family got involved with his cause and started to help him.

“My mom attended a free course about global warming to help me learn more about this new interest,” he said, “but the course was in English and we didn't speak or write English. We needed to translate the text and had to use a translator. I was able to get more and new information about the topic, which allowed me to share my concerns about this growing problem with others,” he said.

For the next year, Daniel collaborated on an online television program in Mexico called “Futuro Cercano” (which translates into  “Future Close”) where he gained his new nickname “El Guardian del Habitat” (The Guardian of the Habitat) Now, he is involved in a new online project, which will be aired on April 26. In June, he will give a lecture at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de El Grullo (a public University in El Grulo, Jalisco, Mexico).

“Now, I am 11 years old and I feel like I need to do even more,” said Daniel.