Preparing The Women For Environmental Evangelism

Thirty seven (37) women selected from oil impacted communities in Rivers and Bayelsa states, were trained on Advocacy. The trainings, organised by CEHRD, were held on the 26^th and 27^th June 2015 in Bayelsa state and 16^th and 17^th July 2015 in Rivers state. The aim of the trainings were to equip the selected women with the skills to participate effectively in advocacy and decision making on environmental issues, strengthen their communication and assertiveness skill, and increase their knowledge on violence against women and environmental justice. The selected women were key players in their community, and were active during the town hall meetings.

Network Formation:

The Women for Environmental Justice Networks (WEJN) were formed at the end of the trainings. The aim of the network is to work towards the improvement of women involvement in environmental issues in their communities, provide support for other women in various Local Government Areas and communities in Bayelsa and Rivers state on issues relating to decision making on the environment. Under this activity the following were achieved:

The participants were equipped with skills and knowledge on communication, assertiveness, violence against women, environmental justice and advocacy. The network formation was initiated and board members and chair persons elected. The group outlined actions to be taken by the network towards increased involvement of women in decision making on environmental issues.