Climate, gender and health: Solidarity, empathy and hope
In May, SOS Children’s Villages Canada program staff and 300 other delegates gathered in Montréal for the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) Healthy World Conference. The conference theme was the crucial intersections of climate, gender and health. It provided a productive space for sharing ideas, exchanging knowledge, and insightful discussions with experts working in the sector.
The conference, featuring 90-minute sessions on varying topics, was a platform for experts to present their insights. SOS Children’s Villages also had the opportunity to contribute to the conference by participating in a panel discussion on One Health. During the session, we spoke about our programming in Somalia, specifically our climate-smart farming project.
For this panel, we invited SOS Children’s Villages Somalia Country Director Dakane Abdikadir to present virtually. Mr. Dakane discussed the project, highlighting the efforts of our colleagues in Somalia who have been running a hydroponics farm for families living in Baidoa. This climate-smart hydroponic farming project aims to assist farmers in crop production, enhance their resilience, and promote sustainable agricultural practices within the community.
This project has shown that food sustainability is more than a development issue. It is crucial to building community resilience and reducing vulnerability during disasters. The impact of our climate-smart farming project in Somalia is inspiring. Instead of relying on imported food assistance during crises, communities can reduce their vulnerability to food shortages by producing and properly storing high-nutrient food for emergencies. This approach not only buffers against future food shortages but also supports recovery and potential prevention from extreme malnutrition. Viewing climate-smart farming as a holistic approach to community development and disaster risk reduction is essential.
Another of the conference’s highlights was Kehkashan Basu’s keynote presentation, Health, Gender and Climate Resilience. She is a respected youth leader, global influencer, staunch environmentalist, champion of child rights and TEDx speaker.
Kehkashan was a thoughtful speaker who made the topics of climate, gender and health accessible to the audience. She highlighted how the most vulnerable are always women and girls because of inequalities that exist across societies and how climate change is exacerbating existing challenges and impacting their health.
Her most important message, though, was about the crucial role of empathy in our work in the development sector. We can easily become overwhelmed or feel a sense of hopelessness in the world, especially when attempting to address climate and gender challenges. Her reminder to practice empathy was a powerful call to action to continue our efforts to make the world a better place for all people.
Reflecting on our time at the Healthy World conference, we are immensely grateful for the enriching experiences it offered. The thought-provoking sessions and engaging conversations with new colleagues significantly contributed to our professional growth and learning. This conference underscored the value of opportunities where diverse organizations—each with the shared goal of helping others and improving the future but employing different approaches and activities—can come together to exchange ideas, best practices and challenges and forge new partnerships. We had the opportunity to connect with numerous organizations, each bringing unique knowledge and expertise to the table.
Written by Kianna Dewart, Program Officer, International Programs and Partnerships, SOS Children’s Villages Canada.