91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ

Climate change impacts are already shaping the lives, livelihoods and human rights of over 370 million Indigenous Peoples worldwide. To face these challenges, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are obliged to mobilize and enhance their knowledge of their territories and natural resources to constantly adjust to unprecedented variances, extreme weather events and slow onset effects of climate change. Indigenous Peoples in particular have also become engaged in national and international scientific and policy processes, with the international system having accommodated and recognized the substantial knowledge and experience that they bring with them.

UNESCO's Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme (LINKS) promotes local and indigenous knowledge and its inclusion in global climate science and policy processes. This session will be in English and French (with interpretation) and will be livestreamed on the and youtube channel. 

Climate change is a major concern for Sahel countries, such as Chad, where farmers, breeders and fishermen, whose livelihoods depend on their environment, are the first to be affected by climate change, which remains poorly understood. However, nomadic herders have been successfully adapting to ongoing changes in their environment by predicting changes in weather conditions and adjusting the movements of their herds towards the water points and pastures. A collaborative study was developed by the UNESCO LINKS programme and the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (Association des Femmes Peules Autochtones du Tchad - AFPAT) focused mainly on nomadic herders, particularly in the Lake Chad region, to better understand and document their traditional knowledge and practices as they adapt to the ever-changing weather pattern due to the climate crisis. 

The main results will be presented by Hindou Ibrahim Oumarou, author of the report. Panelists will discuss various approaches towards integrating Indigenous knowledge systems and practices into current strategies and policies that contribute to our understanding and navigation of the climate crisis. Indigenous traditional knowledge is hugely beneficial to ongoing climate change resistance movements, as well as the health and welfare of Indigenous Peoples. 

The Indigenous Women’s Council facilitates projects for nomadic and semi-nomadic women in West Africa and Sahel focusing on post-covid capacity building and livelihood elevation to strengthen female empowerment for independence and autonomy. Panelists will speak from a country perspective on their approach to Indigenous women’s issues and the implementation, success, and development of their gender programme.

This event provides the opportunity to learn from Indigenous women from different countries in West Africa about post-COVID capacity building and livelihood elevation programmes and projects, in the context of climate change.