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CALL FOR ACTION ON GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE

We participants in the Gender and Climate Change sessions representing women leaders of governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organisations, academia, media and other stakeholders thank Their Excellencies, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of the Republic of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of the Republic of Finland for convening the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership, Development, International Peace and Security 7-8 March in Monrovia, Liberia. The Colloquium provided a forum to reflect on the impact of climate change in developing countries on the daily lives of women, in particular, and also women's possibilities to participate in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. In the light of our deliberations we:

Recognize that climate change will undermine most seriously efforts to poverty eradication and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, so that it raises serious questions of climate justice and equity. Recognize that a gender sensitive strategy is a precondition to the rising challenges of sustainable development.

Note with concern the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented in its 4th Assessment Report, that climate change may affect most strongly the poorest regions and people, especially women, young people and children through impacts on agriculture, food security and availability of water, which are traditionally women's tasks in many developing countries.

Recognize that women and young people have the skills and capacities to adapt to climate change, and they can also be powerful actors e.g. by planting trees, maintaining forests and developing ecological food production and sustainable household energy which are also creating new sustainable jobs. Likewise they can play central role in changing the consumption and production patterns to sustainable ones. Thus awareness raising, information and using traditional knowledge as well strengthening women's' networks is important.

Acknowledge the historic momentum of the ongoing negotiations on a new global and comprehensive climate agreement and the commitment of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to agree on the new commitments and action in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Call upon all Parties and relevant intergovernmental and nongovernmental organisations and other stakeholders to co-operate and to do their utmost to achieve the new agreement on climate change, and in this process pay particular attention to encouraging women to participate in the negotiations and urge parties to incorporate gender considerations into the new agreement in order to lay foundation for gender-sensitive efforts to implement the agreement in the most cost effective way.

Further call upon governments and other stakeholders to create an enabling environment for participation of women at the local, national regional and international level in decision making on climate change and in activities to implement these decisions.

Request governments, the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN system in the context of delivering as one, other relevant international organisations and financing institutions in the context of current and coming programmes and priorities to support the implementation of the climate commitments and actions by planning for information sharing, training and other forms of capacity building to encourage women's participation in the mitigation and adaptation activities including risk prevention and management as well as making the necessary resources and technology available both for men and women. Special consideration needs to be given to developing gender sensitive financing.