Womenovate, others advocate educational resilience to mitigate challenges of climate change

Womenovate, a global advocate for women’s empowerment in education, has called for increased effort towards building resilience in Nigeria’s education sector, as a tool to addressing the challenges of climate change.

Motunrayo Opayinka, the chief executive officer of Womenovate, led this call in Abuja, during the commemoration of the 2024 world education day conference themed: ‘The Impact of Equation: Educational Resilience In The Face Of Climate Change’.

According to Opayinka, the impacts of environmental changes, occasioned by climate change were being felt across the globe, affecting the livelihoods and communities.

“The impact equation we are exploring today is multifaceted. It encompasses not only the ways in which climate change affects educational systems worldwide but also how education can empower individuals and communities to mitigate and adapt to these challenges.

“Educational Resilience In The Face of Climate Change,” underscores the organization’s commitment to addressing the challenges posed by climate change and leveraging digital skills to enhance educational service delivery and outcomes.

Womenovate is a global initiative founded with a singular vision of closing the gender gap in STEM by advancing women’s roles in education and leadership.

Through conferences, workshops, and advocacy, Womenovate strives to create a world where women are empowered to innovate, lead and excel through education and entrepreneurship.

For Oladeji Adeyemi, the national project officer (Education for health and wellbeing), UNESCO, education in Nigeria is being challenged by cases of insecurity.

“Education builds the capacity to develop critical thinking skills. Critical thinking allows individuals to challenge prejudice, misinformation and discrimination, which can fuel conflict.

“Education exposes individuals to diverse cultures, perspectives and belief systems. This Forsters empathy and understanding, breaking down stereotypes and prejudices that can lead to conflict.

“Education empowers individuals to be active and responsible citizens who contribute to their communities and advocate for peace,” he said.

In her remarks, Lolade Awogbade, the sustainability leader at the Development Bank Of Nigeria (DBN), stated that education remains a critical tool in addressing and mitigating the challenges occasioned by climate change.

According to her, “once we have the right form of education, we teach our children the ramifications of certain actions or teach them to understand why certain things are happening in a certain way, we can innovate, we can respond to the challenges we face from an informed point of view, saving our future generations.

“So whether you are in school or out of school, it is important that you raise the necessary awareness so that as a nation it becomes stronger.

“It’s something that we believed in because we are a development finance institution but we are about more than profit so we need to also come into conversations that are ongoing about climate change issues that are real and that all Nigerians are facing.

“So we are encouraged by organisations like Womenovate that have programmes like this and whenever we are called upon to have some sort of advocacy input it’s always our pressure to do that.”