Technical Support to Launch Gender-Focused Africa Urban Heat Resilience Program

Context

Sierra Leone’s NDC highlights a rise in average temperature, reaching 35°C in daily maximum temperatures, impacting vital sectors like agriculture and food security. Women in Sierra Leone, constitute 51% of the population, and are at the forefront of food security, comprising around 80% of Freetown’s urban and peri-urban agriculture community and the sale of food products (own crops or purchased from farmers) in Freetown markets is almost exclusively the work of women. Freetown, Sierra Leone, serves as a commendable model of innovative women-led climate action.

Sierra Leone is among the 10% of countries most vulnerable to climate impacts globally. It is in great need of investment and innovations to improve readiness and a great urgency for climate action. Freetown suffers from a significant urban heat island (UHI) effect. Extreme weather events are expected to increase, including heat waves, significantly impacting agriculture, a sector vital for food security and employment in Sierra Leone.

In response, Freetown, Sierra Leone, stands out as a model of innovative women-led climate action. Under the leadership of Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr and Africa’s first Chief Heat Officer, Eugenia Kargbo, Freetown has made significant strides in enhancing resilience and mitigating rising temperatures. This work is done in partnership with and supported by Climate Resilience for All (CRA) a global adaptation non-profit that is focused on protecting the health and livelihoods of women and other vulnerable communities from extreme heat.

To build upon this success, the City of Freetown and Climate Resilience for All (CRA) are developing an Urban Heat Resilience Program in sub-Saharan Africa to share lessons learned by Freetown and enhance the capacity and build resources of national and sub-national government institutions, non-governmental partners, and community-based organizations to strengthen cities and communities’ resilience to heat.

Goal of the Initiative

The primary goal of the technical assistance is to leverage, share, and advance the ongoing momentum of female-led, gender-focused climate adaptation efforts initiated in Freetown, Sierra Leone, broadening the reach, effectiveness, and impact of these initiatives, to other cities across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and contribute to strengthening the adaptive capacity to extreme heat, a major risk to the livelihoods of African women.

CAA Technical Assistance

Led by the team at Samuel Hall, the technical assistance will strengthen local gender-responsive implementation of the Sierra Leone NDC and NAP in Freetown, by building women’s leadership in climate action and effective communication of gender-responsive climate adaptation led by Freetown. The TA aims to establish a women-leadership and gender-focused Africa Urban Heat Resilience Program across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and contribute to strengthening the adaptive capacity to extreme heat, a major risk to the livelihoods of African women. It aims to:

• Facilitate the dissemination of the experiences and knowledge gained from Freetown and enhance capacity by national and subnational institutions and other key stakeholders to cultivate greater participation and leadership among African women in climate action; and,
• Inspire collective and shared action across African cities and strengthen capacity at all levels to integrate gender equality and human rights.