Landbokvinder vil have bondebevægelser og fagbevægelsen med ved bordet
DURBAN, 9 December 2011 (IRIN) – While heads of state and negotiators gathered behind closed doors in the final hours of COP17 in Durban, more than 500 women from across Africa arrived by the busload at the nearby University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) chanting and singing.
“They are refusing to sign the deal! We want a legally binding agreement with sanctions. Men, you don’t know what you want!” a woman sang.
She echoed the same frustration that negotiators from developing countries are facing inside the UN conference centre, trying to push more powerful countries to commit to emissions reductions (af drivhusgasser, red.).
For the duration of the official conference, UKZN hosted an alternative, a “People’s Space”, where activists, environmental justice organizations and social movements converged to build solidarity at the grassroots level and pressure governments to take a tougher stance on causes of climate change.
The Rural Women’s Assembly, a network of women’s groups from more than 10 African countries, including Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Burundi, came together in Durban, joining the civil society meetings outside the conference seeking to raise awareness about the impact climate change will have at the grassroots level.
75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas
A 2010 Oxfam report states that 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and that rural livelihoods are especially vulnerable to climate change.
– You know, we feel the impact of climate change, but it is difficult for us to understand it. Sometimes we have a lot of rain, sometimes we have none at all, Ana Paula Tauacale of the National Union of Farmers of Mozambique, told IRIN.
– The problem affects us as women because we are the main food producers and we depend on the rain. We are not like men, who can migrate to find work elsewhere, noted she.
The Durban conference, unlike previous climate gatherings, included substantial participation from NGOs. But many on the outside of the conference felt they did not sufficiently represent their interests.
NGOs cannot represent us
– Ninety-five percent of NGOs cannot represent us, said Mercia Andrews, director of the Trust for Community Outreach and Education, part of the Rural Women’s Assembly.
She added: – There is hardly any or no relationship between the conference and social movements. They say that the negotiations are too technical for poor people and therefore they, the technocrats, have the knowledge and can negotiate.
– We are saying no, there should be no negations without us. It is us, the mass base and peasant and labour movements, which hold power. We are the ones who can push for change. Both NGOs and governments must begin to realize this.
Resistance
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