Mothers displaced by floods across Kenya have shared accounts of infant illness, insufficient food, and decreased breastmilk supplies. One mom was forced to carry her newborn above rising waters. CG heard from Susan Onyango and Hellen Wanjohi-Opil, experts based in Nairobi, about the path forward.
"Without proper data, we cannot develop appropriate solutions," Vanessa Brizuela, the expert at the World Health Organization who issued the call, told CG. One aim of the effort, which emphasizes community voices and lived experiences, is to generate evidence to inform national adaptation plans.
Lize Barclay, Senior Lecturer in Futures Studies and Systems Thinking at Stellenbosch Business School in South Africa, told CG about how data center expansion in the region has the potential to further burden women and girls already disproportionately tasked with water collection.
"Cesar's actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people," Dolores Huerta wrote in her statement. "We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever."
Dolores Huerta's recent accounts may help to highlight still-lacking protections against gender-based violence in farmworker and environmental advocacy spaces.
"The climate crisis is reinforcing gender inequality and risks setting back years of progress in girls' education and protection," Keya Khandaker, Research Manager at Plan International, told CG. "It shouldn't be portrayed solely as an environmental issue."
"The climate crisis is not gender-neutral, nor is it child-neutral," Olubusayo Ruth Akinola of the African Union told CG in an exchange about a new report and how integrating climate disaster response with child marriage prevention could help end the practice.
