The Garissa government has partnered with Islamic Relief to train county technical staff and partners as they prepare to conduct the county's Participatory Climate Risk Assessment process.
The training aims to equip technical officers from various county departments with the necessary skills to facilitate participatory climate risk assessment at the community level.
After training, they will go to all wards and help the community to access, plan, analyse and develop climate actions and priorities.
The training comes weeks after the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) met with various county officials and members of the county assembly on the involvement of communities in climate action.
Dan Adino from the Financing Locally Lead Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme, which is implementing climate action in communities, stressed the importance of technical officers rolling out the PCRA process at the community level and identifying locally-led climate interventions.
“Matters climate change worldwide have a lot of effects such as drought, rapid weather patterns and floods. That's why we have to bring everyone on board,” Adino said.
County director for climate change Abdilatif Ahmed said participatory approach ensures that marginalised and vulnerable groups are not left behind in the climate change planning and decision-making processes.
“Communities with limited access to resources, such as women and youth, are often disproportionately affected by climate change and its impacts. Engaging these groups in the PCRA process ensures that their voices are heard, and their needs are taken into account in the development of climate change adaptation strategies and action plans,” Abdilatif said.
Abdilatif said the county government is committed to promoting low-carbon development climate resilience actions to enhance community resilience against the whims of climate change.
The aim is to develop a comprehensive countywide climate change action plan for the county that includes proposals from all wards in which FLLoCA programmes are implemented.
By involving various departments and partners, the county aims to create a wholesome, resilient and sustainable future for its residents.