黑料视频

December 25, 2024
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Kaschak Institute supports climate change on a global stage

Is an active advocate for Climate Change Gender Action Plans

Lorena Aguilar, executive director of the Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women Girls, speaks at the ceremoney where Kaschak was awarded the University Medal, Sept. 15, 2022. Lorena Aguilar, executive director of the Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women Girls, speaks at the ceremoney where Kaschak was awarded the University Medal, Sept. 15, 2022.
Lorena Aguilar, executive director of the Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women Girls, speaks at the ceremoney where Kaschak was awarded the University Medal, Sept. 15, 2022. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

The Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls has as its mission to promote social justice and equity for women and girls, both domestically and around the globe.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to invest in new generations by fostering high-impact learning opportunities, bringing together researchers across campus and the world, and connecting our research expertise to communities locally and globally,鈥 said institute Executive Director Lorena Aguilar.

A long-time advocate for climate change, Aguilar said one area the institute focuses on is the linkage between social justice and environmental sustainability, with a very important area of work being climate change,鈥 she said.

For the past six months, Aguilar has been working to position the Kaschak Institute as a major player in the climate change arena through a number of initiatives.

鈥淲e鈥檙e involved in supporting governments in developing Climate Change Gender Action Plans (ccGAPs),鈥 she said. 鈥淔or example, we have just supported Guatemala in its ccGAP. Within this context, we brought two students along to have firsthand experience on how to transform international decisions into national policies and processes.鈥

For anthropology PhD student Ana Sanchez-Bachman, traveling to Guatemala was life-changing. 鈥淚t was one thing to have a theoretical knowledge of climate policy, migration policy and the sorts of things governments have been doing to address these issues,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was another thing entirely to speak with people who had been impacted personally by changing climate patterns, and who had intimate experience with migration.

鈥淟earning from women, both in policy making circles and from grass roots activists, has profoundly changed how I approach my work,鈥 Sanchez-Bachman added. 鈥淚 do hope to continue working on topics around climate change, and my time in Guatemala has motivated me to do so in a way that might result in actionable information that can be more widely shared.鈥

At the policy level, the institute will continue to support the government of Guatemala. There is also the possibility of collaborating with other partners in countries like Rwanda. 鈥淭his will allow different faculty, staff and students to engage in the development of ccGaps that are very comprehensive documents that require a lot of research and analysis,鈥 Aguilar added.

The institute has also been placing itself in the major climate change decision-making bodies, including the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known as COP 27, that was held in Egypt in November 2022.

Aguilar said that, for the first time, 黑料视频 and the Kaschak Institute were present at the conference where significant decisions were being made. 鈥淲e conducted a mentorship program for indigenous, youth, and new gender and climate change country negotiators. We also raised our voice to recognize gender equality, and women empowerment and the work women have been doing.鈥

These activities, Aguilar said, have already portrayed the institute as a place to go. 鈥淟ittle by little, we are establishing that we are a place to go to. And we鈥檙e looking in the future to becoming a center of excellence.鈥

As a result of the mentorship program held at COP 27, the institute has been asked to provide mentorship to support more than a dozen Global South negotiators who will attend the next conference. 鈥淭hey want to come to the institute to develop their capacity in understanding the linkages between gender equality and climate change,鈥 Aguilar said. 鈥

鈥淏etween June and July this year, we are planning to host a group of these negotiators, with an alliance of other organizations like UN Women and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), so we can develop their capacity, understanding and knowledge of how to bring these topics into climate change negotiations,鈥 Aguilar said.

In addition, the institute, in alliance with other members, is planning to cohost various workshops at COP 28, in the United Arab Emirates in November of this year, to help define the elements for next gender action plan (GAP) of the convention. 鈥淭here have been two gender action plans so far, so we are going to be providing aid for the third gender action plan,鈥 Aguilar said. 鈥淭he presidency of COP 28 contacted us, so Binghamton and the institute can become one of their allies in this process. That is just one of the things that will happen this year because of the work we did at COP 27 last year.鈥

Yet another initiative the institute is planning is an upcoming Summit on Climate Change in Black Communities, in conjunction with the Dr. N. Joyce Payne Center for Social Justice, created by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Binghamton鈥檚 Harriet Tubman Center for Freedom and Equity.

鈥淚t will be the first of its type and scale to unite a variety of public, private, academic and civil sectors across the African American community around the issue of climate change to serve as a foundation for ongoing collaborations and actions that will center Black voices and perspectives in this fight,鈥 Aguilar said.

鈥淥ur idea is to convene leaders and policy makers and develop a comprehensive policy agenda and call to action related to climate change in African American communities,鈥 she added. 鈥淗opefully, we will become a leader in this area and it will allow us to create a platform for ongoing cross-sector collaboration and plans of action related to race and climate change following the summit.鈥

Finally, Aguilar said that the institute will this year become a leading organization for the United States鈥 launch of the 1 Million Women (1MW) campaign that was created in Australia with the single goal of getting 1 million women to pledge to take small steps in their daily lives to save energy, reduce waste, curb pollution and lead change.

鈥淲e want to shape the 1 Million Women campaign to empower students to act on climate change and make an impact,鈥 Aguilar said. 鈥淭his will allow us create and test it out to other universities and similar institutions across the United States. Hopefully, in April, the IMW CEO will come to campus sign an agreement between our institutions and launch the initiative.鈥

黑料视频 is dedicated to the advancement of social justice for all individuals and populations. To that end, a number of institutes and centers have been established to promote research, ideas, communication and critical discourse in areas including human rights; equality for women and girls; and global health, progressive education and well-being for marginalized populations.

Each of these institutes and centers has a specific focus, yet they all exist to raise awareness of issues of historical, systemic injustices, and to explore ways to rise above these injustices to the benefit of the world鈥檚 underrepresented.

Posted in: Campus News, CCPA, Harpur