From 22-25 October 2018, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), in partnership with the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), and with the support of the Government of France and Canada hosted a workshop on climate negotiations training for 15 women from across Francophone African countries in Dakar, Senegal.

The four-day training workshop was a mix of knowledge and skills-based learning to build the capacity of women from Francophone Africa. The knowledge section included an overview of the UNFCCC processes including the Paris Agreement, status updates of the different thematic areas of negotiations and with a special focus given to climate finance and the legal perspective of the Paris Agreement. The training aimed to develop skills in diplomacy, including drafting text for interventions, decisions and other written outcomes of the negotiating process, with the aim of strengthening the participants’ capacities to participate effectively in the negotiating process. This included experiential learning through a mock negotiation exercise, as well as tools to equip them for the upcoming UNFCCC meeting. Additionally, it enabled personal development through public speaking exercises, and exercises focused on leadership.

Furthermore, the participants benefited from a field visit of a female-led project in a fishing village in Senegal. This gave the participants the opportunity to see the projects financed and provided a link between international negotiations and grassroots and community-owned projects.

WEDO has delivered several regional training’s for women delegates but this was it’s first time delivering such a training in French to Francophone African women, thanks to the partnerships and support of OIF and the donor Governments.

Five of the delegates trained in this workshop will now be supported by WEDO and the Women Delegates Fund to attend the upcoming climate negotiations in Katowice, Poland.