General

Regional influencing climate action program The West Africa region has a high number of countries ranked among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world. In addition, this region has the largest number of countries where more than 30% of the population lives below the extreme poverty line (less than $1.90/day) and depends for its subsistence on activities that are highly sensitive toweather conditions: rain-fed agriculture, livestock breeding, fishing. These people are therefore particularly vulnerable to climatic shocks, which are increasingly recurrent and of unprecedented magnitude in the region. Climate action is not currently enough to achieve climate justice for those who rely on natural resources for their subsistence, those who have their food and nutrition security threatened by climate change. Their right to food, to land and forests are at risk as they are facing uncertainties in the middle of multiple climate shocks and stresses. Policies processes and implementation are not involving rural communities, women and youth organizations. The nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and adaptation plans are still to strengthen their human rights and gender equality aspects, while these frames need to improve nature-based solutions’ roles in their targets, to ensure the reduction of the emissions in the production sectors and the adaptation of communities’ livelihoods to CC effects. The climate action-influencing program in West African aims at achieving climate justice for women, youth and small-scale farmers so they realize their right to food and land rights, so that they can improve their resilience to climate change. Through alliances and supports to different stakeholders, our work on: 1) Climate and development policies (NDCs, NAPs, local development plans, etc.) to raise the adoption of agro ecology and agroforestry; 2) Climate governance spaces to hold governments accountable for their adaptation and mitigation commitments, especially regarding the communities, rural women and youth access to climate finance for their adaptation needs. The activities will take place in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, implemented by Oxfam offices in partnership with local partners involved in climate and environmental action. This project is framed to strengthen others climate change program and influence activities running in countries, such as the Regreening Africa project (Mali), the AACJ project (Burkina and Nigeria) and the JESAC project (Burkina).