By Christopher Tetteh
Sunyani, (Bono), June 12, GNA-Mrs Gifty Nyarko, the African Ambassador for Inclusive Urban Governance and Climate-Resilient Development has called on the government to address the roots cause of flooding in the country to save life and properties as the rains set-in.
She said the nation ought to look beyond emergency responses and enforce planning and building regulations to protect and restore wetlands, waterways, and urban greenery and to protect the vulnerable population, mostly women and children.
Mrs Nyarko, also the Executive Director for African Centre for Urban Resilience Planning and Inclusive Governance, a non-government organisation, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.
She said a collective action was required from the government, traditional authorities, estate developers and local communities towards intensifying development controls and compliance monitoring efforts and to prevent flooding.
Mrs Nyarko noted that recurring flooding incidents in Accra and parts of the country had destroyed homes, collapsed businesses and affected critical national infrastructure.
She expressed worry that about 80 percent of people displaced by flooding globally were women and girls, saying that in extreme weather disasters, women and children died a lot, largely because of unequal access to information, mobility, resources, and decision-making opportunities.
Mrs Nyarko said climate-related disasters disproportionately affected women and girls because they constituted a significant proportion of the world’s poor population and were often more dependent on natural resources and climate-sensitive livelihoods.
There is therefore the need for a deliberate and conscious investment in climate-resilient and nature-based urban solutions, greater public education on responsible land use, and environmental stewardship.
She said mainstreaming gender considerations into climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and urban planning policies remained essential to protect women, children and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
“The recent flooding in Accra is a painful reminder that climate change impacts, environmental degradation and poor urban development practices don’t affect everyone equally,” Mrs Nyarko stated.
She said flooding could interrupt education through school closures as well as expose children to waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid and thereby cause emotional trauma to families.
“The fight against flooding is therefore a fight for gender equality, social justice, environmental protection, and sustainable development through protecting wetlands, preserving urban greenery, enforcing planning and building regulations, and placing women and children at the centre of climate action, we can build safer, healthier, and more resilient communities for all,” Mrs Nyarko said.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Christopher Tetteh
Reporter’s email: [email protected]