Governments at all levels have been urged to adopt measures to ensure greater women’s participation in environmental decision-making.
The Executive Director of New-Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), Florence Ifeanyi Aneke, made the call while speaking at the Women and Extraction Journalism Training held in Enugu. According to her, the impact of environmental challenges on women and their livelihoods is often much.
Aneke emphasised the need for sustained government intervention, accountability and responsible management of natural resources. She urged the government to “identify high-risk communities, improve drainage, address serious erosion threats, and ensure that interventions respond to the needs of affected residents”.
She also called for stronger environmental monitoring and enforcement, particularly in mining, quarrying and excavation activities. She said abandoned mining and excavation sites should be safeguarded while degraded land should be rehabilitated where required.
Aneke further called for improved waste-management systems, protection of water sources and essential infrastructure, and greater access to environmental information, and stressed the importance of inclusive environmental planning.
She called on the government to ensure that women, persons with disabilities, and other groups who may be disproportionately affected participate meaningfully in environmental decisions and community development planning.
NELCCI Executive Director also charged journalists to investigate persistent environmental challenges, amplify community voices, verify claims with evidence, and track government and corporate responses.
She said, “Environmental protection must not become a situation in which communities are expected to solve problems beyond their capacity. Government and other responsible institutions must be held accountable for the responsibilities assigned to them.”
Speaking also, the Project Officer of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Tracy Ohovwore, called on women journalists to give greater attention to the impact of extractive activities on women in host communities, particularly in Enugu State.
Ohovwore said Enugu was selected for the engagement because of the devastating effects of coal mining on host communities, including Iva Valley, Akwuke, Onyeama, Okpara and Auhum.
In her words, “While we acknowledge the courageous efforts that journalists have taken to draw attention to these issues, the plight of women in the reporting of these incidents is less prominent. It is injustice for us that the issues are reported in a blanket manner without the gender dimensions. Women often experience these impacts differently. They carry the heaviest burdens of everything we have listed affecting host communities because as caregivers, providers and users of natural resources, they interact with land, water and unfavorable climatic conditions to sustain their families.”
Ohovwore urged women journalists to “apply a gender lens to environmental reporting”, noting that “We believe women journalists have an important role to play in ensuring that the lived experiences of women affected by extractive activities are properly documented and reported.”
