Pardafas Reporter
A 10-point declaration has been issued to draw the world's attention to the effects of climate change from the Mount Everest base camp at Kalapatthar today on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The declaration was issued by a group of 40 distinguished women from different walks of life amidst a special function there organized with the support of the Ministry of Forest and Environment and ‘Sathsathai’, a non-governmental organization working on the issues of women.
They had completed a 13-day trek from Kathmandu to Kalapathar in a bid to raise awareness about the climate change issues.
The declaration calls for advocating for the issues of women representing areas that are particularly affected by climate change. The declaration will define women’s role in mitigating and reducing climate change and advocating ‘climate justice’.
Similarly, the declaration will support women from high altitude areas to tackle climate change, seek support from the international community about the issues, and attract their attention about the effect of climate change in the hilly and low lands in Nepal.
During the function Pratija Karki, Chairperson of 'Sathasatha', delivering the declaration expressed her commitment to join hands with the global climate justice movement. She further said that to remote Himalayas as a major nature-based tourist destination, and to create awareness and empower vulnerable communities especially women to cope with the issues of climate change.
On the occasion, she informed that a campaign was launched on Kalapatthar to draw the attention of the concerned bodies, environmentalists, researchers and the world on the issue of climate change and women's justice in the Himalayas. According to Karki, the campaign, launched under the slogan "Women United for Climate Justice", had a serious debate on the impact of climate change, especially on women's lives, and the need to seek justice.
Countries like Nepal should continue to raise their voice in the world arena
Participants in the group stressed on the need to be aware of the fact that no one can escape from the burning problem of climate change and if the warning is not heeded in time, countries at geographical risk like Nepal will be most affected. They pointed out the need for countries like Nepal to keep up the pressure on the world stage.
Supreme Court Judge Sapna Pradhan Malla, who participated in the march from the very beginning, said that it was time for countries like Nepal to raise their voice in the world arena for climate justice and now it was time to fight a legal battle. She also stressed that the time has come to find a legal way to implement the international treaties and agreements related to Nepal.
Senior actress and human rights activist Manisha Koirala said that women are more affected by the effects of climate change and that there is a need for women to take initiative for its solution. Stating that the contribution of women in the work of climate adaptation and mitigation is huge so we need to raise the issue in a public forum in the coming days.
Bandana Rana, a member of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, said that the issue of climate change has become more complex in recent times and our generation has been forced to face various disasters.
Dr. Radha Wagle, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Environment and Chief of the Climate Change Management Division, informed that the government has given priority to adaptation reduction programs to control the effects of climate change.
In the program, senior journalist Babita Basnet, former commissioner of National Information Commission Yashoda Timsina, Human Right activist Saru Joshi and others raised their voices and called on the world to unite against the impact of melting of our Himalayas.
