The inaugural Africa Climate Summit started on a powerful note, with key speakers across Africa and the world shedding light on the urgent need for global climate action, especially in Africa With leading voices converging to discuss the continent's climate future, the summit aims to shift paradigms and foster collaboration, both within and beyond Africa's borders - signaling the continent's unwavering commitment to address the climate crisis and championing a green growth trajectory. "Clearly, this is no ordinary summit," stated President William Ruto at the opening ceremony. A common thread in his remarks emphasized the need to shift from traditional discussions that exacerbate divisions - such as north versus south or developed versus developing. He noted, "We are not here just to talk about Africa or climate change in the usual way." Instead, Ruto underscored the necessity of understanding that economic development and environmental stewardship must coexist and reinforce each other, and not be cast in opposition. Let me be clear, these conversations are necessary. Africa’s carbon footprint remains small, but the human toll of climate change is disproportionately high. The president was candid about Africa's unique position in the global climate dialogue, emphasizing, "Let me be clear, these conversations are necessary. Africa’s carbon footprint remains small, but the human toll of climate change is disproportionately high." The continent's urgent need to address the damage inflicted by extreme weather events and climate-induced challenges resonated deeply with the audience. Yet, he astutely pointed out that while the interplay of needs and responsibilities is complex, they should never result in a deadlock. President Ruto highlighted the potential of turning these challenges into opportunities. "Delivering prosperity and wellbeing for Africa’s growing population without pushing the world deeper into climate disaster is not an abstract proposition or mere wishful thinking," he stated, underlining that a shift towards an opportunity-oriented approach could elevate Africa to unprecedented prosperity. President Ruto's remarks harmonised well with those of Hon. Soipan Tuya, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change & Forestry, who emphasised the central objective of the summit - to envision an ecologically responsible Africa, powered by sustainable financing. "We have a golden opportunity to present a bold vision of Africa—a continent bursting with potential," she said. Her remarks centred around Africa's strategic leveraging of human and natural resources to adopt a low carbon economy, pointing out that the climate discourse has evolved into a question of justice. "It's about justice," Tuya highlighted, advocating for solutions derived from inclusive perspectives. Anne Samante, representing the National Indigenous Peoples Coordination Committee on Climate Change, highlighted the paramount role that indigenous communities play in protecting Africa's precious ecosystems. "Our traditional knowledge and lifestyles have long fostered resilience and adaptation to climatic changes," she stated before adding, "Indigenous communities are not just victims; we bring solutions," she asserted, calling for better integration of indigenous wisdom into policy frameworks. Elizabeth Wathuti, a youth climate justice activist, threw a spotlight on Africa's youth's potential as indispensable agents of change. Referring to the African Youth Climate Declaration, she said, "Our objective is to amplify youth participation in climate governance plans, creating avenues towards sustainable development and green growth," she emphasised, highlighting the indispensable role of youth in Africa's climate journey. Josefa Sacko, Africa Union commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, drew attention to the economic distress climate change has brought to Africa. She pointed out that some nations spend a whopping 50% of their GDP on climate-induced disasters annually. Despite these challenges, she championed Africa's proactive stance and highlighted the need for investments that align with Africa's aspirations. Josefa offered a riveting perspective on Africa's distinct position in the global climate discourse stating that while Africa continues to urge global partners to fulfill their commitments, the continent is also prioritising our initiatives to bolster resilience across the continent. “It is essential that Africa evolves from merely being a recipient to engaging in investments that align with our aspirations,” she stated. Mithika Mwenda, a Climate Justice Activist, critically highlighted the financial disparity in global climate contributions and Africa's needs. He emphasized, " It’s evident that Africa is contributing more than its fair share towards addressing this crisis. We must deliberate on achieving a financial balance between adaptation and mitigation, stated Mithinka before adding,” Delaying will only inflate future costs!” His sentiments mirrored the collective plea for commitment and accountability from developed nations. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), underscored the summit's mission. Speaking from his unique position of understanding both international climate bureaucracy and the ground realities of developing nations, he said, "Together, as a global community, we must strategize our next steps." Simon strongly urged the importance of transitioning away from carbon-intensive methods, he stated, "Africa stands as a key player in this journey, showcasing tremendous potential and innovative prowess." As the world inches closer to COP 28, Stiell emphasized the urgency of reducing emissions to keep global temperature rise within the 1.5-degree threshold. Throughout the day one of the summit, a clear message echoed: Africa is not merely a passive player in the climate dialogue. The continent is proactively seeking and implementing solutions, expecting global partners to meet their commitments. The call is for unity, innovation, and sustainable growth. With the strong start at the Africa Climate Summit, the stage is set for transformative actions that resonate with the aspirations of the continent. As leaders deliberate over the next few days, the hope remains that Africa will carve its path as a beacon of green growth, harnessing its vast resources for a sustainable, brighter future.
 

It’s a hot and humid morning on John Ochieng’s farm on the outskirts of Kisumu town, near a small lagoon. John is a bright and healthy 77-year-old who strides through the fields in bare feet, some of his toenails missing after decades of labour. He enjoys practicing his English. “How are you coping with the atmospheric pressure this morning?” he asks UNICEF, with a twinkle in his eyes. John collects a bag of manure from young entrepreneurs Chelsea and Steven of Saniwise Technologies. Their company has designed an eco-friendly toilet and sells manure and chicken feed produced as a by-product. John draws some water from a borehole and leads the UNICEF team to a nearby field where he is growing spinach, aubergines, tomatoes and lettuce. He carefully packs some of the manure around a small lettuce in the centre of a hole in the field, then moves onto the next one. “I met Chelsea and Steven over there by the lagoon,” John says, pointing back the way he came. “I was curious about the toilet they had built. They told me that it makes manure and chicken feed, so I bought some samples from them. I like the products – the manure helps my crops grow very green and fruitful. When I gave my chickens the feed, they enjoyed it. It’s good to see young people helping themselves.” Saniwise Technologies is a youth-led organization that develops sustainable and innovative toilets to improve public health and reduce environmental impact. The company has developed a toilet design that uses black soldier fly larvae to break down solid waste and create manure that is suitable for using on farms like John’s. Their toilets are made mainly from recycled materials, including plastic waste and tetra packs, and are well-ventilated to provide a pleasant experience for users. Toilet prototype Behind the Saniwise office is a prototype toilet, spotlessly clean and painted blue and yellow, which Marketing Manager Chelsea Johannes, 22, demonstrates to UNICEF. “This is the black soldier fly larvae,” she says, pointing to several white grubs in the toilet pan. “They’re digesting the waste. You can see that it already looks more like soil. In four days’ time, it will be ready to sell as manure.” Chelsea says that she got the idea for the toilet from growing up in an informal settlement with poor sanitation, leading to high rates of diarrhoeal diseases among children, who also miss school as a result. “Having been brought up by a single mum in a low-income area, I understand the challenges,” she says. “Toilets are hard to maintain, and no-one wants to contribute money to empty them properly. That’s one of the reasons we set up Saniwise. My mum helped me and now I want to do something to help back. I’m excited that we’re getting to actualise our dream.” Youth marketplace The Saniwise team has benefitted from UNICEF-supported training and seed funding, through both Generation Unlimited (GenU) and the Youth Agency Marketplace (Yoma). Generation Unlimited is a multi-sector partnership which aims to see more than 30 million young Kenyans in education, training or employment by 2030. As part of promoting young people’s creativity, GenU runs an annual youth challenge – now called imaGen Ventures – which targets youth groups with innovative ideas. This includes boot camps, where participants gain business skills, and seed funding for the winning teams to implement their ideas. The Youth Agency Marketplace (Yoma), meanwhile, is a digital marketplace that helps young people boost their employability by completing personalised online training courses, taking part in challenges and community activities, and connecting with potential employers. As they complete tasks, they are rewarded with digital tokens that can be swapped for goods or services, and their successes are recorded on a digital CV, that they can share with potential employers. “Yoma is a bit like a LinkedIn for young people,” says UNICEF Kenya Technology for Development Officer Brian Keya Elahalwa. “Youth account for 60 percent of all unemployed people in Africa. Yoma and GenU respond to this by opening up opportunities for all young people, not just the better off. The platform offers pathways from learning to earning that build young people’s skills and connect them to jobs or entrepreneurship opportunities.”   Vocational skills In partnership with the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, UNICEF is rolling out Yoma through local youth centres across Kenya, which already provide free Internet for unemployed young people. One of these centres is in Konoin, Bomet County, high up in the hills above Kisumu and surrounded by lush green tea plantations. The centre has two computer rooms and a recreation area, where young people can chat or play pool and darts. The pool table is old and needs propping up under one leg but still works. One of the young people, Nicholas Rono, lines up a shot and pockets a coloured ball in the far corner, while Konion Youth Office Mike Jassor looks on. “Young people face many challenges these days, like alcohol and drug abuse, but the number one challenge is the lack of employment opportunities,” Mike comments. “Yoma has been very critical for us. It helped us train 40 young people on the fundamentals of digital marketing. UNICEF came and taught us how to use the platform. They also provided reimbursements and helped us with technical challenges. The young people really appreciated the training. I believe that they are a potential gold mine lying there for employers.” Saniwise Operations Manager Steven Ochieng, 23, also took part in the Yoma training on digital marketing at a similar youth centre in Kisumu. This gave him essential skills to help promote the business online. “Before Yoma, we were not that active on social media, which was a great concern to us,” he explains. “People would hear the name Saniwise, but they didn’t actually know what we do.” Steven says that a key benefit of the training was that it was offered free of charge by the STEM Impact Centre, removing a barrier for many young people. “I really enjoyed the training. I learned about graphic design and digital marketing. I used the skills to produce our company profile and posters for our digital platforms. From this, we’ve had inquiries from people in the community who wants to adopt our toilet. It’s brought us exposure to the market.” Participating in the Generation Unlimited challenge has also helped Saniwise expand their business. During the bootcamp, the young team formalized their products, registered the business, learned financial planning and honed their investment pitches. These efforts paid off, as Saniwise went on to compete in the global GenU competition, ultimately winning second place overall and around 1.2 million Kenya shillings in seed funding. “The GenU bootcamp was very engaging and it was fun learning from each other,” Chelsea comments. “We were excited to be one of the global winners and will use the seed funding this year to construct and install more toilets, including in the nearby informal settlements.”

"I felt heart-broken when my daughter became pregnant, she dropped out at 16 years old. I wanted her to have an education but she’s not in a good place now and she has six children," explains Monica Silinyang from West Pokot’s Batei Ward. Monica, also a mother of six, also dropped out of education to focus on childcare in the home, just like her daughter.  This scenario is common in a community that excludes women from even discussion family planning. "It is very difficult to speak to men in the community. To not want children creates suspicion, that you may have someone else. We are expected to comply and there is always a reasons put forward to have more kids," Monica adds. However, through targeted community dialogues and wider outreach via radio, women in West Pokot are becoming more vocal on issues of family planning and gender-based violence. 
Indirect Impacts "Family planning and sexual and reproductive health rights were not intended topics of discussion in this women's economic empowerment project, but once we started, this is what mattered to the women of the community," explains Nelly Wanjiku, from Village Enterprise, UN Women’s implementing partner
"Family planning and sexual and reproductive health rights were not intended topics of discussion in this women's economic empowerment project, but once we started, this is what mattered to the women of the community" 
  The community outreach work set out to promote broader gender sensitive approaches to role sharing in agriculture as well as promoting women’s agency and collaborative decision-making in the household. "Providing women farmers with the right techniques would be ineffective in a cultural environment where they cannot take decisions and have agency over their family’s livelihood," explains Elizabeth Obanda, Programme Specialist on Women’s Economic Empowerment. "Gender-based violence prevalence is high in West Pokot, so SRHR issues cannot be excluded when trying to change a community’s mind set, everything is linked," she adds.  Milka Chepkemoi, 32, is a businesswoman from West Pokot who is a member of one of the 27 self-help groups set up by the Women's Economic Empowerment through Climate Smart Agriculture (WEE-CSA) project. She is now beginning to share a more equal role with her husband when it comes to matters of business and their financial plans. Following community discussions on gender equality her husband has been promoting this new approach to his friends and “willing to change others’ opinions in the community," Milka explains. "Before the project started, there was a rejection or confusion from some households. Many husbands thought it was a programme to influence their wives, make them become more powerful," but Milka believes “most are seeing changes as part of the programme. They are starting to see that combined income benefits the whole household." Ultimately, this increased knowledge means "no more borrowing money for school fees," concludes Milka. Successful climate smart agriculture is more than adapting farming techniques. Transforming traditional attitudes is also a necessary requirement to strengthen sustainable economic security.

West Pokot is one of the counties targeted by UN Women and FAO’s climate smart agriculture project. Through community dialogues and local radio shows, over 100,000 individuals will be reached with discussions that promote a more equal society. The project is supported by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

Mariam’s wheelchair is folded away in a corner. Because the roads where she lives in an informal settlement near Mombasa, Kenya, are narrow and sandy, the chair is no use. Instead, Mariam’s mother helps the teenager, who was born with hydrocephalus and epilepsy, get around when needed. To improve Mariam’s well-being, the 16-year-old’s household has been targeted by a UNICEF programme that provides unconditional cash transfers to support children with disabilities. With the money provided by UNICEF, Mariam’s mother, Amina, bought medication, paid rent, bought food and even started a small business of selling chapatis, a staple part of Kenyan meals. “I am worried what might happen to my daughter if I leave her alone. The cash transfers made it possible for me to start a small business right outside of our house. I can make an income to buy medicines and other essentials for Mariam, while keeping an eye on her.”   With financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the Swedish Agency for International Development (SIDA), UNICEF has registered 3,169 children with disabilities in Mombasa Country under the programme. Between November 2021 and February 2022, UNICEF transferred KES 12,000 per household over four instalments. These unconditional cash transfers reached 2,700 households. As part of the COVID-19 response, 723 households also received cash top-ups through a vertical expansion of existing government cash transfer schemes where household members had severe disabilities. With the cash, parents not only pay for their children’s education, but also access medicines and cover basic needs such as nutritional foods. Many have also used part of the money to start small businesses. UNICEF is now advocating to boost funding for the programme, allowing Mombasa County to expand the programme to reach more households and increase the benefits to families with higher support needs. UNICEF is also working with the county government to conduct educational assessments to make sure disabled children receive the support they require in school, including assistive devices and accessible handwashing and sanitation facilities. At the same time, UNICEF has worked with the county government to ensure sustainability by including programmes for children with disabilities in the county’s Integrated Development Plan. However, in Mombasa County poor infrastructure, and poor access to transportation, medication, community-based rehabilitation, as well as caregiver support, remain a challenge. Transportation to and from school, quality inclusive education in a school with accessible infrastructure, equipment, adapted teaching and learning materials, and capacitated teachers, and integrated school services with physiotherapists and speech therapists would support children like Mariam to reach their full potential.  UNICEF is committed to continue the collaboration with the county government to address these challenges through strengthening coordination capacity of government agencies and partners for better planning, resource allocation and efficient budget execution and monitoring of progress in upholding the rights of children with disabilities. Kenyan children with disabilities have been disproportionately impacted by events of recent years including the COVID-19 pandemic, a protracted drought emergency and high cost of living. In Mombasa County, with a population of about 1.2 million people, about 19 per cent of children are considered multi-dimensionally poor, meaning they are deprived of at least three basic services including social protection, education and basic services.   This story was first posted on UNICEF Kenya.