Overview:
Climate
Change and Poverty Diagnosis Program 2010
Background
As
countries in the global south like Ghana begin to experience the effects of
climate change, the United Nations has begun establishing a climate fund to
help countries mitigate and adapt to these effects. The US, EU and Japan have
offered to jointly contribute $10 billion annually between 2010 and 2012.
Abibimman Foundation is concerned about the effects of climate change on those
already living in poverty in places like the Tema slums, and will be lobbying
the Ghanaian government on important issues that should receive some attention
of this fund.
Ghana
needs to develop a national climate change policy to meet these challenges, as
well as a national youth policy. People around the country are beginning to
feel the effects of climate change like hotter temperatures, heavier flooding,
and less predictable rains. These stresses are serious factors in the migration
of so many people from other regions seeking better livelihoods in Tema.
Although
there are a number of industries and infrastructure throughout Tema, many
people are moving into slum communities with poor living conditions in the
metropolitan area. An unacceptably high number of people live in poverty, often
forced to live in slums without basic necessities like adequate water and
sanitation. Unemployment of youth is a serious challenge for slum communities.
The 2004 UNDP Human Development Report for Tema showed that the 14.5%
unemployment rate for Tema Municipality was much higher than the national
average. Even those with jobs in fishing or other industries often struggle to
make ends meet.
Over
the past year, Abibimman Foundation has expanded from promoting the MDGs and
leading anti-poverty campaigns, by running two events focused on poverty and
climate change in Ghana. With the support of GCAP, WWF and other organizations,
Abibimman led a series of Climate Justice Hearings in October 2009, traveling
around the country learning about and publicizing the effects of climate change
in different communities. In December 2009, Abibimman led an International
Human Rights Day event with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative
Justice (CHRAJ) to highlight the challenges of those living in slums in Tema,
and how climate change is adding further difficulties to those trying to attain
their basic rights.
Abibimman
believes it will be easier to lobby the government's climate mitigation and
adaptation policies with more in-depth knowledge of the real challenges being
experienced around the country. We believe the situations faced by citizens
living in slums in Tema are similar to those in other urban slums in Ghana, and
our connections in the community make it an ideal place to conduct a
participatory assessment. Through the Climate Change and Poverty Diagnosis, we
hope to learn more about the challenges being faced by citizens living in urban
slums, and how their service providers can help them adapt to climate changes
and ensure their rights are met. A participatory approach should help ensure
that our results more accurately reflect community members' situations and
experiences, reduce the chances of Abibimman imposing its own perceptions of
their situation, and build community members' own capacity to lobby for their
rights.
We
will be working with communities in two areas of the Tema metropolis: Community
3 Site B and Tema New Town. The Community 3 area is an illegal slum, and the
entire area is at risk of demolition, because the TDC has sold the land to a
Korean developer. Tema New Town is a more established area along the coast,
with many working in the fishing industry. However, residents face many similar
challenges to those in Community 3, in terms of basic needs, livelihoods, and
shelter. We hope to build connections between groups in the two communities to
work together on common issues through joint meetings, planning and action.
Program
goals
- Learn more about
poverty and the specific impacts of climate change on people's lives in
Tema New Town, how it is affecting other issues in their community, what
capacity they have to adapt to these changes, and what their development
priorities are. This will allow Abibimman to speak in step with their
experiences and priorities when doing lobbying work such as advocacy around
the UN climate adaptation fund.
- Build capacity of
youth in community to advocate on their own behalf with elected and
traditional leaders. Abibimman will support community members to speak on
their own behalf, by providing human rights seminars, opportunities to
engage with their authorities, and preparation for these meetings. We also
aim to give community members, especially youth, ownership of the project
by including them in all aspects of project design, facilitation,
monitoring and evaluation.
Short-term
and medium-term community objectives
Short-term
- Give members from
many community groups the opportunity to learn about and discuss their
rights and entitlements. Youth groups will be the main focus, and we hope
to involve about 20 to 30 groups, partly through an MDG and rights
workshop with CHRAJ.
- Give them the
opportunity to participate in a diagnosis of poverty and climate change
impacts in their community, and their challenges and priorities, and
discuss these together with local authorities.
- Provide
opportunities for communication and collaboration between youth groups in
Tema New Town and between citizens in Tema New Town and those in Community
3.
Medium-term
Increase
the frequency and depth of community and youth engagement with local leaders,
and increase communication and collaboration between citizens in the
municipality
Long-term
outcomes
- Increase the
capacity of community members to speak up and advocate for their own
rights and entitlements with local authorities and service providers,
especially in poverty and climate change-related issues.
- Provide platforms
for communities to influence important national and local policies, like
Ghana's climate change adaptation policy, and strengthen Abibimman's
advocacy work by learning from the diagnosis process.
Abibimman's
program objectives
- Provide
opportunities for community members, especially youth, to participate in a
sensitization workshop with CHRAJ to learn more about and discuss the MDGs
and their rights as Ghanaians. They will also provide frequent
opportunities for leaders from the two communities to meet and
collaborate, to build links and allow them to work together on common
issues.
- Make an in-depth,
credible study for our advocacy programs, reflecting Abibimman Foundation
and the community's assessment of poverty and climate change impacts
affecting them, locally or elsewhere.
- Help organize the
forum to present the results of the diagnosis and allow the community
members to engage with local leaders.
Program
activities
Diagnosis
Over
the course of several weeks, Abibimman and youth facilitators from Tema New
Town will conduct a participatory poverty and climate change diagnosis in their
community. Our methods will be decided together, but may include roleplaying,
community score-cards, walks through the community, resource mapping, focus
group discussions, history charting, and other tools. Assessments will also be
made from opinions and comments expressed at youth group meetings that
Abibimman representatives will be attending.
Capacity-building
The
two major capacity-building activities will be the MDG and Rights sensitization
workshop with CHRAJ, which will be held together with representatives from
youth and community groups from both areas, and the forum where the results of
the diagnosis will be presented to and discussed with other stakeholders.
Monitoring
& Evaluation
In
addition, Abibimman Foundation and the communities will be conducting a
monitoring & evaluation process to assess the process and final results,
and help explain what worked, what didn't, and what should be tried in future
programs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Rx2ALxQQE
Kenneth Nana Amoateng
AYICC West African Coordinator
Abibimman Foundation
Ghana National Youth Coalition on Climate Change (GNYCCC)
Energy crossroads-Ghana
GCAP/MDGs-Ghana
Torch-Ghana
IDAY-GHANA
P.O.BOX BT 1 Tema
Flat 1/A 74 Site 3
(OPP T.DC),Commmunit 1
Tema-Ghana/African
E-Mail: amoatengken@yahoo.com
Tel# 233-22-213918
Mob# 2332-244023651
skype:kenneth.nana.amoateng
I'm on assignment to my generation.