By Isatou Jawara
The Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Natural Resources, through the Eco System Based Adaptation Project recently organised a regional training for traditional communicators on mainstreaming gender in developing projects and message development for information sharing.
The trainings were held across the seven regions targeting traditional communicators, who will serve as focal points in disseminating informing for various communities.
It is believed that by the end of the training it will help create a triple effect, as traditional communicators will be held up to reach out to the grassroots especially women to disseminate the message.
The event was facilitated by the EbA Project, Ministry of Environment and Bolongdala Theater Group served as the Resource Persons.
Mr Sambujang Dampha, Communication and Knowledge Management Officer for EbA Project said traditional communicators are important groups in the communities as they serve as essential medium of communication.
The Gender and Advocacy Office, EbA Project, Ms Halima Colley in her presentation said that EbA projects adapt options in the various regions and women’s full participation in each of those options is very important .
“Even though, there are non women-specific adaptation options, there are women-dominated options which need women’s leadership to be strengthened to ensure that they reap the full benefit especially those related to natural resources enterprises,” she noted.
“The importance of women’s participation in climate change adaptation was highly explained as that which will promote effectiveness of interventions, efficiency, equitable and sustainable. The session also delved into how women’s rights can be promoted through participation in decision making, taking up leadership positions, access to and control over resources, livelihoods, gender based rights and participation, and governance, she explained.
Ms Colley also trained the participants on fire prevention and management due to the recent devastating outbreaks of bush fires in the communities. The participants were taken through the participatory forest management; active inclusion of rural communities in the management and utilization of forests and forest products.
The gender and advocacy officer took the participants through some of the major human activities that initiate fire and the alternative ways to stop or minimise its occurrence. The concept of community forest management was also explained for the traditional communicators to strengthen the message
She also encouraged traditional communicators to inform communities to initiate strategies for fire prevention as well as set community rules for any bridge of agreements.
At the end of the session participants recommended that traditional communicators need to be empowered to reach out to the grassroots to deepen information sharing, and that indigenous land tenure system has disadvantaged rural women, causing more barriers to access to land, and also the social exclusion faced by migrant women.