Women play a vital role in combating the negative effects of climate change. The United States Government, through the US Forest Service, is proud to support the Women in Central Africa for Climate Action (WICA) program in five Congo Basin countries, including the Republic of Congo. To date, the WICA program has trained more than 200 young women in the Congo Basin region, giving them new skills and techniques to implement climate change mitigation activities at local, national and regional levels. Last week, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin, Arlette Soudan Nonault, joined Ambassador Young in Brazzaville for a graduation ceremony for the Republic of Congo’s WICA program. During the ceremony, Minister Soudan Nonault declared: “<< Your training is part of the commitment of our respective countries to meet the challenges of this global problem >> . In his remarks, Ambassador Young told the graduates: “You have new tools to make a real impact, such as understanding the international process for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and removals to the Convention -UN framework on climate change. Not only do you add value to your country’s capacity to cope with climate impacts, but you can also become leaders in this area, by sharing this knowledge in the Republic of Congo and throughout the sub-region.
