Overview of the project

This project facilitates selected CSOs to participate and contribute to sub-regional, regional, and international climate change dialogue processes with the goal to hold their government accountable on their commitment to NDCs, and other provisions of Paris Agreement. It also broadens citizen awareness on the Paris Agreement through robust media engagement.

The intervention aims at:

1. Creating awareness and understanding of the effects of climate change and climate negotiations from a “Climate Justice” perspective at the national, regional and global levels
2. Engaging, enabling and enhancing African CSOs and Non State Actors’ (NSA) capacity, their participation and voicing in the global climate negotiations
3. Strengthening and improving the ability of African civil society organizations to follow-up on national commitments, compliance, and implementation of the Paris Agreement, including NDCs
4. Raising public awareness, and creating conditions for ordinary citizens in different African countries to understand climate change, and justice in the implementation of the Paris Agreement

This situation has presented a completely new paradigm that necessitates imperatively a change in the methodology without compromising the mission, vision and strategic objectives of PACJA in these uncertain times. In this regard, the organisation has revised its approach to its work to accommodate the challenges presented by COVID-19.

This revision takes cognisance of the previous acknowledgement of the prevailing context and processes shaping global climate discourse processes even before the pandemic struck – international UNFCCC-led processes, notably the decisions of the COPs, UN Agenda 2030 interactions, priorities set by African leaders under the auspices of the African Union, and, to a broader sense, underpinning these into the Alliance Strategic Plan.

PACJA decides to continue to galvanise the voices of the civil society through the products developed from several studies and analyses as the basis for their contributions to COVID-19 response and recovery strategies both at national and regional levels.

As the pandemic has made it impossible to conduct physical meetings, consultations are held through digital platforms (Webinars) to ensure stakeholders are sufficiently informed of the prevailing circumstances to jointly help put in place the right measures to remain relevant.

To promote bottom-up engagement in the context of COVID-19, PACJA-CI identified ”Community Resource Persons” (CRPs) from the active grassroots members, who facilitate outreach, and communication between critical groups at decentralised levels, national platforms and PACJA Secretariat. Ten CRPs have been identified with clearly defined roles based on the country context.

Moreover, five Thematic Groups have been identified members with expertise to develop rapid weekly analysis on their groups, and facilitate active communication, and outreach through digital platforms between CRPs and Thematic Groups. This sustained the conversation and connection between the local-level advocacy, and national platforms/thematic groups, which feed into regional, and continental work through national coordinator. Thematic Coordinators (TC) have been facilitated by PACJA Secretariat in consultation with the national coordinator to enable them effectively provide leadership to the Working Groups.

In addition, 10 Young Digital Activists (YDAs) have been recruited to serve as intergenerational facilitators of community outreach. The COVID-19 pandemic has put brakes into the youth mobilisations, and demonstrations in the streets across the world. Using their digital innovation prowess, and with the movement restrictions imposed by countries and territories across the world, the youth have diverted their energies to digital mobilisation through online platforms, such as webinars, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thus, the YDAs operate at the sub-national/community levels in the country where they will mobilise and engage communities’ and government climate action in the context of COVID-19. They will be connected also to the Youth Committee for the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice and integrated into the Summer School countdown activities.

The national coordinator identified 25 individuals who spearhead active, bottom-up, people-driven, and inclusive outreach and mobilisation through various methods based on digital communication, including collaborative tools and Social Medias, to ensure climate action and NDCs implementation shape the post-COVID recovery consultations.