WHAT: 500 rural women from Southern Africa will gather to send a message to governments and policy makers at COP17 that their voices must not be shut out of the negotiations.
The Rural Women’s Assembly opening will be addressed by Pablo Salone, eco-feminist activist and ex-Bolivian ambassador to the UN.
High impact photo and filming opportunity, with songs, cultural dances and speakers from African and Asia.
Good opportunity to gather the real-life stories of those on the front line of climate change and hear their arguments on how to adapt their land, as well as calls for land redistribution and government subsidies for smallholder farmers.
WHY: Climate change is a threat to the lives and livelihoods of rural communities all over Southern Africa who feel the brunt of rising temperatures and erratic and extreme weather. Yet rural women - who are inextricably tied to their dependence on land - will be locked out of COP17.
Editors' notes
The Rural Women’s Assembly will run from 30 November to 5 December and will consist of four-day workshops.
