NAIROBI - Women participants at the ongoing U. N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) talks in Nairobi have called for fresh economic reforms on a global scale to give women access to land for agriculture, improved healthcare and a bigger share of funds earned from mining activities.
Oyun Sanjaasuren, President of UNEA-1, said late on Tuesday that new policies to effectively handle the challenges facing the environment, most of which affect women the most, required scaling up of policies to save more women and children who remain most vulnerable to climate change and other environmental risks.
"Climate change and biodiversity loss has crossed the limit," Oyun told participants at an event to discuss the gender links to the environment at the May 23-27 event.
"Women are more vulnerable to the environment and climate change. They need access to energy and safe water."
Helen Hakena, gender activist from Papua New Guinea's Women Major Group, who remembered witnessing fellow women die from child-birth, rape and the lack of basic healthcare for women during child-birth, said it was the mandate of the UNEA talks to ensure the protection of children.
"We would like to see UNEA II safeguard the lives of children. They must utilize this opportunity to rethink the global economic structure and ensure that money earned by governments is not used to purchase weapons of war in our country," Hakena told participants at the environment event.
U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner reaffirmed the ministers attending the conference that it would be keen to achieve a broad range of agreements on issues affecting the environment globally with key attention on some specific policy approaches on transport reforms.(Xinhua)