Aug 4 2009
UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi has signed onto the United Nations Seal the Deal campaign, joining several other UN agencies and organizations that are encouraging governments to reach an ambitious and effective global climate agreement in Copenhagen this December.
"UNIFEM calls upon all world leaders to agree on much needed emission targets, with appropriate timetables, to help ensure the vitality of ecosystems on which humanity depends," Alberdi said last Thursday. "This is a critical step to ensure the welfare of the planet and its people, now and in the future."
Ms. Alberdi stressed women are often on the frontlines of environmental change and frequently the first to face impacts on their livelihoods. However, as farmers, entrepreneurs, managers of household resources, scientists and politicians, women are equally poised to drive positive change and contribute to a global response.
Signing onto the global campaign, Ms. Alberdi stressed, "Equally important is to enhance the capacity of all people - women and men - to cope with this unprecedented challenge that threatens national and global efforts to eradicate poverty."
Mr. Ricardo Sánchez Sosa, Officer-in-Charge of the UNEP office in New York, welcomed UNIFEM's support. He added that UNEP has a number of environmental projects that incorporate gender and poverty reduction, including in Guatemala and Nicaragua. For example, women in rural communities, particularly indigenous women, are trained in rainwater catchment techniques, which are an alternative water supply to boost agriculture and generate income.
The Seal the Deal campaign - launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in April is a United Nations Campaign that encourages users to sign an online global petition and remind world leaders to work together to seal the deal on an equitable and effective climate agreement that will bolster the resiliency of vulnerable countries and protect the lives and livelihoods of all. Time is pressing as talks lead up to the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, December 2009.