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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund for East and Southern region is organizing a three-day “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Gender and Climate Change Resilience” symposium to be held on 26-29 August 2019 at the Future Africa - University of Pretoria, South Africa.
This symposium aims to “generate fast-track actions that will be game-changing in building climate change resilience”, Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa, United Nations Population Fund says.
Background information
In 1994, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), recognized that “ecological problems, such as global climate change, largely driven by unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, are adding to the threats to the well-being of future generations.”
Those projected threats have already started impacting many people especially those in poor communities as extreme climate-related hazards are now regularly occurring in Africa: drought in the Sahel, severe water scarcity, more frequent and extreme El Nino events, historically severe storms such as cyclones Idai, Kenneth and more.
Unfortunate, extreme climate-related hazards greater exacerbate the vulnerability of a large proportion of people, especially women of reproductive age, including adolescents and other marginalized groups since climate- induced natural disaster limit their access to sexual and reproductive health services, safe water and improved sanitation, food insecurity, and education.
Due to an increase in the number of climate-related displaced population when a natural disaster strikes, the number of people in need of emergency reproductive health services or protection from gender based violence escalates.
Aim of Symposium
Expected outcomes of the symposium are as follows:
- Recommendations on strengthening the integration of SRHR, gender and youth in climate resilience, as an input to the Nairobi Summit, Climate Summit and other global climate change actions.
- A compendium of ICPD-related programmes that will be the basis for expanded implementation on climate resilience in the next five years.
- Strengthened partnerships and financing for shared action.
Location: Future Africa, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Date: 26-28 August 2019
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Information Centre in Pretoria (UNIC).
