Climate
Change Defenders Program
This initiative aims to mobilize groups of activists and
environmental rights defenders who would lead grassroots climate groups in
their communities, spread the message about the urgency of climate change and
its effects on life of vulnerable people in the Kurdistan Region and link them
to other initiatives in the rest of Iraq. Human and environmental rights
defenders are known to be on the front-line of global and local efforts to halt
widespread and disastrous human rights abuses and environmental destruction, at
the intersection of human, environmental, and climate justice.
Through environmental and climate justice efforts, people would be
confronting local environmental and public health problems by working
collaboratively with their local government agencies and the responsible
institutions and agencies in order to find appropriate and tangible solutions
in the lights of the existing laws and regulations or otherwise, to work for
amendment of specific articles of the existing laws and regulations in favor of
the vulnerable communities. This initiative would endeavor to mobilize efforts
of the climate defenders through mapping the most hazardous risks facing the
communities, analyzing and reporting them to the government agencies in charge
and work through awareness raising and advocacy to find possible proper
solutions for them.
Program Activities
IRO has established partnership
within the relevant communities including the academics and high level
institutions to coordinate human and knowledge resources. Community mobilization
and knowledge management are the core contents of which the program seeks.
Training and capacity building
on relevant thematic areas include:
-
The environment rights
-
Climate change and
vulnerable communities
-
Climate justice
-
Advocacy
-
Role of climate
defenders in fighting for a safe and healthy environment
IRO Organization hosted a workshop on how to create a road map for promoting climate justice as part of the Climate Change Defenders Program CCDP in collaboration with the Human Network in presence of numerous academics, leaders of civil society, and environmentalists. Many topics that make up a realistic framework for civil society groups and other relevant parties to work on climate change and its potential effects on various aspects of human life were addressed during the event.
The event's main themes included the current situation in Iraq and the Kurdish Region, stakeholders and actors, and potential intervention. The audience members improved the presentation by contributing to each section of the roadmap framework and providing feedback on the issues brought up. The IRO Organization will produce a draft roadmap, which the participants and other pertinent partner organizations can review later. The created roadmap will be made available to the public and adapted as part of the CCDP initiative.
The event's main
themes included the current situation in Iraq and the Kurdish Region,
stakeholders and actors, and potential intervention. The audience members
improved the presentation by contributing to each section of the roadmap
framework and providing feedback on the issues brought up. The IRO Organization
will produce a draft roadmap, which the participants and other pertinent
partner organizations can review later. The created roadmap will be made
available to the public and adapted as part of the CCDP initiative.
As a part of Climate Change Defenders Program and to find out about several issues related to climate change and its impact on human life, IRO has conducted a survey in which 110 forms were returned in three days.
Results finds out that the majority of the surveyees pessimistic position toward the climate situation in Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the efforts to solve it.
The vast majority feel that climate change has impacted their life in the areas they live.
63% see that there no efforts to solve the environmental issues in their areas
According to the recent survey conducted by IRO Organization on environmental rights and the level of knowledge citizens know about their rights, threat of climate change and several issues, the majority of the survey samples have shown a disappointing view over the environment where they live.
Up to %36, of the respondents believe that knowledge of people on the environmental hazards is very low while nearly half of them show that people knowledge is low.
The survey shows that nearly %51 of people have very low knowledge about their environmental rights and nearly %39 have low knowledge