We're grateful for Achieng Mwanaisha Emily's leadership in the Sowing Change program in Kenya, supporting women's leadership in climate change solutions.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of being nominated by the CARE Kenya Country Office to present CARE's Gender and Climate Justice interventions at the 30th International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD30), hosted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA-Kenya) and the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi. During the presentation, I highlighted the transformative work of the Sowing Change Project, which integrates CARE's gender-transformative and community-led approaches into climate justice programming. This initiative focuses on Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB), community-based adaptation, and integrated risk management—a holistic approach encompassing gender-transformative climate adaptation, restoration, land conservation, and ecosystem management. One key example from the Sowing Change Project is its emphasis on women and youth leading in developing financially innovative locally led adaptations to strengthen community resilience and equip the communities with the ability to mitigate and adapt to climate shocks while fostering equitable development. In addition to Sowing Change, I highlighted other CARE projects such as KRAPID, which integrates CARE's gender-transformative and resilience-centered approaches to resilience-building in arid and semi-arid regions, and CASCADE, which supports climate-smart agriculture for increased food security. These initiatives collectively reinforce CARE's commitment to addressing the interlinkages between gender equality, climate adaptation, and poverty alleviation. While the SDGs aim to end poverty by 2030, climate change threatens this ambition, with projections indicating an additional 132 million people may fall into poverty by 2030. This stark reality highlights the urgent need for gender-transformative and resilience-centered programming to ensure vulnerable groups—especially women, youth, children, and the elderly—are better equipped to face these challenges. Grateful for the opportunity to showcase CARE’s impactful interventions and advocate for inclusive, sustainable approaches to climate justice.