In the frame of preparations for the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC, two of the High Atlas Foundation’s team members, Fatima Zahra Laaribi and Ibtissam Niri, attended a participatory workshop aimed at equal climate justice for men and women, supported by the Finish Embassy in Rabat. Titled «Pour une Justice Climatique intégrant l’égalité des sexes, homme/ femme », this workshop was organized by The Moroccan Volunteer Collective and Argania Association for Culture and Development, Essaouira. The workshop took place in the Handicapped Children Center of Essaouira on 15th October 2016.

The workshop had two purposes: help mobilizing Moroccan women, associations as well as the elected women in the region of Marrakech-Safi to be decision makers or proposing decisions in essential forces in the theme of gender equity and climate change, which particularly affects women. It advocates for an approach in which women and men have an equal voice in decision-making on climate change and broader governance processes and are given equal access to the resources necessary to respond to the negative effects of climate change. It is here where both women’s and men’s needs and knowledge must be taken into account to by climate change policymaking institutions.  Also, the training was an opportunity for each association to provide effective solutions for climate change as it affects us all. These negative impacts do not affect us all equally; poor and rural women are left the worst affected. All the solutions and results that were drawn out during this participatory workshop will be formulated as projects and presented during the COP 22to be held in Marrakech from 7thto 18th November 2016.