By Zedekia Mapunda

Tanzanian Women Parliamentary Group (TWPG) plans to create awareness about the importance of gender-responsive policies, plans, and strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Women are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters and climate change when their rights and socioeconomic status are not equal to those of men.

According to Hon. Dr Tulia Ackson an MP who also serves as the Deputy Speaker of the national assembly, women play in agriculture and the challenges they face in the advent of climate change.

“We are dealing with the issues of climate change every day in our constituencies. The rains are not coming on time. The farmers spend money on seeds and work on their farms but they get nothing by the end of the day. Women who take care of their families have the worst struggle. They work the most on the farms,” she noted.

Her remarks were reiterated by Hon. Margaret Sitta (MP) the Chair of the TWPG, who also chaired the meeting.  Hon. Sitta thanked the organizers of the event and requested them to reach out to all Members of Parliament to increase their awareness on climate change. “We thank the organizers of this event for imparting to us this knowledge which will help us to know how to advise the Government on issues of climate change.”

Climate change is currently the greatest challenge facing humanity across the world. The impacts of climate change in Tanzania include among others: higher temperatures, increase in frequency and magnitude of droughts and floods as well as rising sea levels. Current climate variability and change resulting in extreme weather events have already caused major economic losses in Tanzania, estimated at US$200 million per year for the agricultural sector alone.