Zubair Qureshi
The Embassy of France on Wednesday hosted an award-giving ceremony to celebrate the International Women’s Day (March 8) and to recognize efforts of the Pakistani women in the fields of climate change and gender equality.
Launched jointly by the French embassy, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in July last year, the Gender & Climate Award is going to be an annual feature and the organizers hoped it would continue to highlight the best practices by women in climate change and gender equality.
A cash amount of Euro 3,500 (Dh 13,543), Eur 2,500 (Dh 9,673) and Eur 2,000 (Dh 7,739) was also given along with the first, second and third recipients of the award.
Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, the Chief Guest on the occasion, congratulated the first, second and third award-winners for setting good examples in agriculture, gender equality and women empowerment. Your stories, she said, are indeed inspiring for other women and we have many things to learn from you. Pakistan, she said, bears the brunt of climate change every year, and particularly, the memory of last year’s floods is still etched on our minds when hundreds and thousands of people in Sindh went homeless, colossal loss caused to crops and livestock, etc.
Similarly, we are facing another impending calamity i.e. heat wave which is another ‘gift’ of climate change, said she. In this scenario, meeting women who have done excellent work in this particular sector is indeed a matter of honour for me, said Sherry Rehman. Ambassador Nicolas Galey said the award drew attention to good practices and concrete solutions led by women from civil society for a more fair, equal and healthy planet.
It responds to the Paris Agreement’s objective of promoting gender equality, justice and youth engagement in climate action.
