Uzoamaka Nwamarah is an Adviser on Climate Change at the Commonwealth Secretariat, where she is responsible for providing strategic leadership and technical oversight on the Commonwealth NDC Programme, along with gender and youth mainstreaming.
Tell us a little about how you came to work at the Commonwealth Secretariat
When I was a young girl in primary school In Nigeria, I was introduced to Chief Emeka Anyaoku, during his tenure as the third Secretary-General of the Commonwealth by my late father, Dr. Emmanuel Nnama. I was left with a remarkable impression not only of the individual but also that the organisation he represented was of great prestige and importance for the international community.
Years later, while I was working in the climate finance space in 2015, I learned about the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) and found this mandate to be quite fascinating. Upon relocating to the UK, I seized the opportunity to join the Commonwealth Secretariat to deliver the objectives of the Commonwealth Climate Change Programme, including its flagship initiative CCFAH. I find my job thoroughly enjoyable - challenging but ever so rewarding.
As the Thematic Lead for Gender and Youth in the Climate Section, can you tell us how these aspects are being mainstreamed in the Climate Change Programme, including the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub?
I have always reinforced to my team that “everyone is collectively responsible for gender and youth mainstreaming”. Our Commonwealth Climate Change Programme mainstreams gender and youth considerations into all levels of operations and aspects of our work - policy-making, strategic planning, project design, programme delivery, evaluation and reporting. The overall objective is to create a more inclusive and equitable Commonwealth.
We integrate gender equality and youth considerations in all the climate policies, strategies, action plans and projects we develop, recognising the importance of inclusive action as well as the disproportionate burden of climate change on women and young people. Specifically on climate finance, we strive to design more gender-responsive and youth-inclusive project funding proposals, advocating the equal participation of women, men and young people in decision-making and project implementation.
CCFAH also supports member countries in developing standards as part of the overall accreditation process for national entities who seek direct access to international climate funds. We also help countries that need to develop a substantive gender analysis and gender action plan, which is now a non-negotiable condition for funding under climate finance mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund.
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Countries have outlined ambitious climate commitments within their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. How can gender and youth be mainstreamed or integrated into NDCs?
For countries to meet their NDC targets, women and young people must be recognised and effectively engaged in all relevant processes, from drafting to implementation. On our part, the Commonwealth Secretariat is enhancing their meaningful participation through awareness raising, capacity building and advocacy.
We produced a report, Gender Integration for Climate Action: A Review of Commonwealth Member Country Nationally Determined Contributions (2nd Edition), which provides useful best practices and recommendations on critical areas such as gender policy integration, institutional coordination across gender and climate change, capacity building in technology, MRV systems and financial resources for gender inclusion.
Building on that, we developed A Commonwealth Best Practice Guide on Gender Integration in NDCs, which tracks Commonwealth progress across best practice areas and outlines tangible action points for countries to enhance gender integration.
With 2023 as the Commonwealth Year of Youth, we plan to roll out ‘teach in’ sessions across our youth networks to improve their understanding of climate finance and accessing international funds. These would model a session we successfully hosted during the 2023 Global Youth Engagement Forum led by the NDC Partnership.
How will the Climate Section be engaged at upcoming Commonwealth ministerial meetings on youth and women?
The 13th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting is in August in The Bahamas while the 10th Commonwealth Youth Ministers Meeting takes place 11-15 September in the United Kingdom. I will be representing the Climate Section, along with my colleagues, at these two major events, which take place every three and four years respectively.
We will be presenting discussion papers on gender, youth and climate change and highlighting the importance of mainstreaming these elements in climate action. We will also cover the current challenges faced by women and young people, along with the roles they can play in providing innovative solutions. We will also discuss opportunities, and scope for their increased involvement, in implementation processes to meet national climate targets.
The Commonwealth’s four priorities on gender equality include gender and climate change, and its mandate on youth empowerment places emphasis on meaningful access to development and policy processes. These meetings are thus an opportunity to enhance the institutional framework for establishing a clear and robust roadmap for mainstreaming these issues.
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Media contact
- Josephine Latu-Sanft Senior Communications Officer, Communications Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
- +44 20 7747 6476 | E-mail
