IWD 2024: Invest in women: Accelerate progress; Inspiring Inclusion

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) promotes climate investment that empowers women. At the CCCCC we recognize that climate change impacts women differently, but we also recognize that some women stand a greater chance of being even more impacted due to their multiple vulnerabilities. Our Executive Director, Dr. Colin Young avows that as part of our commitment to the region, we must ensure climate change interventions uniquely respond to the respective needs and circumstances of women, men, boys and girls across the Caribbean, and that women, girls and marginalised groups are empowered to be change agents for addressing climate change.

Our investment in women starts internally at the CCCCC. We therefore must ensure that our female members of staff at all levels are included in decisions that concern them. Therefore, we strive to inspire inclusion internally. We must also ensure that our women are protected from violence and abuse within the workspace and in the performance of their jobs. Happy International Women’s Day to all our women climate change champions at the CCCCCC, we Salute you.

Moreover, we need to ensure that climate investments have the potential to yield triple dividends for our Caribbean women and societies.

We invest in women through ensuring that voices of women are incorporated into the design of our projects. We hold the view that no stakeholder engagement process is complete without having full and inclusive participation, including of women and girls. This is a core human rights principle that we at the CCCCC embrace.

We invest in women by ensuring that our projects are developed with a gender lens. We aspire to understand how men and women are impacted by climate change across the region and how our projects can provide positive impacts to distinct groups in building resilience. We aspire to include women, including those working on climate change actions professionally, and those taking action at the community and household level to strengthen resilience against climate change.

We recognise that women drive climate action at the community level throughout our region, therefore, we invest in women by ensuring that Women-led Organisations have improved capacities to access climate financing. For example, under the Regional ECP Caribbean project funded by Global Affairs Canada, we are rolling out a technical assistance programme consisting of administrative, financial, fundraising and project management training directed at key stakeholders to improve local capacities for accessing funds to improve communities’ resilience.

We invest in women by ensuring that women, and representatives of women have a seat at the decision-making table. This is manifested from the CCCCC Board of Directors to our Project steering committees. Women and men hold unique perspectives, and we embrace that since women make up 50% of the Caribbean’s population, that women’s perspectives are equally important in climate change decision making spaces.

We invest in women by providing internship opportunities for female students in Science Technology Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) education. In projects like the GFC Funded 3R CReWS Barbados project, we ensure that young women are empowered to be agents of change, effectively working on technical climate change solutions throughout the Caribbean Region.

So why does investing in women make good sense? We recognize that when we make an investment in a woman, we are not just investing in that woman, we are also investing in her children, her family, and her community.

Happy International Women’s Day to all women throughout our region and beyond!