OUR PRIORITIES AT AFRICA CLIMATE WEEK

The second Climate Week of 2025 (CW2) will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from September 1 to September 6, 2025.

In 2025, the UNFCCC relaunched Regional Climate Weeks with a consolidated approach, reducing the number to two events a year. The first of 2025 was held in Panama in May.

The timing is particularly significant as Ethiopia will host the Second African Climate Summit immediately following Climate Week, from September 8 to 10. The African Climate Summit expects to bring together more than 45 African heads of state. This convergence creates an opportunity to showcase African climate leadership while ensuring gender-environment data informs inclusive climate policies.

OUR GOALS THROUGHOUT CLIMATE WEEK AND THE AFRICAN CLIMATE SUMMIT:

Collaborating with allies to showcase and amplify gender-just narratives and solutions: This will include convening a “Friends of Gender” meeting immediately after ACW, gathering members of the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC) and allied governments to explore opportunities and strategies for advancing an ambitious Gender Action Plan (GAP) at COP30. We will also be engaging in the second Gender Action Plan development workshop, as leads of the Gender working group of the Women and Gender Constituency, while supporting the participation of fellow advocates in the Fourth dialogue under the UAE Just Transition Work Programme, mandated events on finance, adaptation, etc.
Uniting GEDA-scale grant recipients, partners, and allies to foster innovation and collaboration: WEDO will leverage the Africa Climate Week platform to host a “Data Fellows Convening.“ By ensuring a GEDA presence at ACW, we hope to amplify the importance of data, specifically gender-environment data, in understanding and addressing climate and environmental challenges. We will also be showcasing GEDA members and their community-driven and locally-led initiatives as a means to not only fill gender-environment data gaps but use data for decision-making. Through our Small Grants Program and accompanying Data Fellowship, GEDA is facilitating the participation of individuals from organizations in Kenya, Ghana, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. This will allow for greater cross-regional learning for a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Showcasing African women’s leadership, pushing for tangible proposals in the GAP, and positioning African feminist demands at the heart of Africa Climate Summit declaration and COP30 outcomes: The Africa Women and Gender Constituency will host a CSO Gender Day as a pre-event for the Africa Climate Summit titled “From Ground to Global: African Women’s Power in Climate Action”. This day hopes to both recognize that African women bear the heaviest burden of climate impacts while offering the transformative leadership, innovation, and local knowledge needed to build resilient futures.

OUR DELEGATION AT AFRICA CLIMATE WEEK

Mwanahamisi Singano

Director, Policy

Mwanahamisi (“Mishy”) Singano is an African feminist passionate about fighting structural and intersecting inequalities while contributing to a more just, equal, fairer, and sustainable world. Over the last 15 years, she has worked with women’s rights organizations, civil societies, and governments in developing strategies, building partnerships, managing programs, and engaging communities towards the promotion and protection of women’s rights and the health of the planet.

Claudia Rubio Giraldo

Coordinator, Policy & Programs

Claudia Rubio Giraldo is a Dominican-Colombian feminist, lawyer, and activist. At WEDO, she serves as co-convener of the Gender and Environment Data Alliance and supports the collection, analysis, and use of data in the Gender Climate Tracker. She is also co-coordinator of the Gender Working Group of the Women & Gender Constituency at the UNFCCC. Claudia has experience working with environmental justice, climate change and food security in Colombia, Dominican Republic, and the United States. She also has experience with building and coordinating multi-stakeholder coalitions, project management and research.

Jahanara Saeed

Manager, Programs

Jahanara (“Jay”) Saeed is an international development professional who brings an intersectional feminist lens to her work, along with a commitment to justice. At WEDO, she supports and manages the organization’s gender data portfolio, including the Gender and Environment Data Alliance. Prior to joining WEDO, she was a program director at Open Data Watch, overseeing the organization’s program of work with an emphasis on gender and inclusive data. Jay also has a background in education research and policy in both the U.S. and Pakistan. She has conducted research on student success outcomes, teaching and learning pedagogies, public-private partnerships in education, and diversity and inclusion in primary school textbooks. Jay holds a Master’s degree in international economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. in economics from Smith College.

KEY EVENTS

GEDA’s engagement during Africa Climate Week culminates in a public showcase event: Imagining Resilient & Inclusive Futures: An Exploration of Gender Data for Climate Action.

Date: Friday, September 5, 2025

Time: 4-7:30 pm EAT

Location: Best Western Plus Pearl in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Modality: In-person, RSVP by Thursday, September 4.

Advancing an ambitious Gender Action Plan at COP30: Friends of Gender and WGC Strategy Dinner

Date: Saturday, September 6, 2025

Time: 6–8 pm

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Africa Women and Gender Constituency: “From Ground to Global: African Women’s Power in Climate Action”

Date: Sunday, September 7, 2025

Location: Best Western Pearl: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Register here

WEDO at Africa Climate Week 2025