July 9, 2025 (Nairobi, Kenya): The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), through its Land Governance Unit, is convening a Regional Dialogue with Women Parliamentarians and Duty Bearers on Gender, Land and Climate Resilience from July 9–11, 2025, in Nairobi, Kenya.
The dialogue brings together women parliamentarians, duty bearers, policymakers, technical experts, and development partners from IGAD Member States to deliberate on the critical intersections between gender equality, land governance, and climate resilience. It aims to promote inclusive policy dialogue and regional collaboration to accelerate secure land rights and gender-responsive climate action.
The Regional Dialogue on Gender, Land and Climate Resilience is the culmination of a series of six national dialogue meetings conducted across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda. These national-level consultations brought together women parliamentary leaders, including members of key parliamentary committees on land, natural resources, climate change, and agriculture, as well as representatives from Women Parliamentarians’ Associations and national land institutions.
These dialogues aimed to strengthen the capacity of women parliamentarians to effectively champion gender issues within their legislative and oversight roles, particularly in the context of land governance and climate resilience. Through these engagements, participants identified priority policy issues, highlighted persistent challenges, and proposed actionable points.
Following the national dialogues, IGAD is convening this regional platform with selected women parliamentarians and relevant sectoral ministries to capitalize on national discussions and build a collective regional voice to address the issues identified.
The IGAD region remains highly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as prolonged droughts, floods, desertification, and environmental degradation. These challenges disproportionately affect rural communities and exacerbate inequalities in land access, tenure security, and natural resource governance.
Women, who play central roles in agriculture, water management, and community adaptation, are often excluded from land ownership and decision-making processes. Weak land governance systems, customary norms, and policy gaps continue to undermine their capacity to adapt and lead climate-resilient livelihoods.
IGAD, through its Land Governance Programme, has championed efforts to strengthen land administration, support inclusive natural resource governance, and enhance community resilience—particularly for women and vulnerable groups. The Nairobi Dialogue is part of IGAD’s ongoing initiative to align regional strategies, foster political will, and catalyse transformative actions that secure equitable land rights and sustainable climate responses.
This regional engagement will:
- Raise awareness on the gender–land–climate nexus;
- Strengthen the role of women parliamentarians and duty bearers in gender-responsive land and climate policy-making;
- Promote the sharing of best practices and country experiences across IGAD Member States;
- Build momentum for regional and national reforms in land governance; and
- Generate recommendations for legislative, institutional, and programmatic actions.
The Nairobi Dialogue provides a strategic platform for women legislators and key stakeholders to shape the regional agenda and contribute to IGAD’s ongoing policy frameworks. Outcomes will inform the Authority’s broader support to Member States in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals—particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).
This event reaffirms IGAD’s commitment to building a region where land governance is inclusive, equitable, and resilient to climate threats.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Austine Opata – Head of Communications | austine.opata@igad.int
Lucas Tusiime – Digital Communications Officer | lucas.tusiime@igad.int
