I was a teenager when guests filed into our house in Nairobi for a reception on the sidelines of the Third World Conference on the Status of Women in 1985.
It has been exactly forty years, and twenty years since the Beijing Conference on Women in September 1995.
Both conferences reframed women’s rights as human rights and for the first time, the global community united behind a plan for gender equality, empowering women and girls across the world.
The conferences elevated the voices of indigenous women and sparked a global movement that continues to shape policy and inspire activism today.
Yet in 2025, the bold vision of Beijing remains unfinished. While past decades brought real progress, there have been setbacks from rising violence against women to shrinking rights.
Today, girls in some places face fewer freedoms than their mothers. In war zones, violence against women remains a brutal weapon of conflict, devastating lives and silencing voices. Despite this, there are organisations such as ‘City of Joy’ in Bukavu, in Eastern DRC that offer women a powerful response, turning pain into purpose by helping survivors heal, lead, and rise.
Their work restores hope, dignity, and strength where it’s needed most, proving that even in the darkest places, women can be unstoppable forces for change.
I am also inspired by the fact that women’s movements persist, fuelled by defiance and hope.
Women are also an essential, and often overlooked, force in Africa’s climate response. Across the continent, they face persistent obstacles: limited access to land, finance, technology, education, and decision-making.
While progress has been made, particularly in girls’ education and political participation, structural inequalities remain deeply rooted, especially in rural areas, where women are the cornerstone of both family life and food systems.
From farming and water collection to household energy and ecosystem protection, African women are already innovating on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
They are agents of adaptation and architects of resilience. But their labour, vital as it is, has too often gone unrecognised and unrewarded.
As we mark Africa Women’s Day, let’s reflect on both the progress made and the unfinished work ahead. This year’s African Union theme: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” reminds us that the injustices of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid continue to shape lived experiences today.
But among the greatest injustices we must now confront is the climate crisis, and within that, the disproportionate toll it takes on African women.
Africa contributes just three to four per cent of global emissions, yet it is among the regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Within the continent, women, particularly those living in poverty, carry the heaviest burden.
Every day, millions of African women must navigate unreliable rains, degraded soils, food insecurity, and rising temperatures as they work to feed their families and hold their communities together. But they do so without secure land rights, without access to climate-resilient technologies, and without a seat at the decision-making table.
I think of my own mother, Wangari Maathai who, in 1977, founded the Green Belt Movement, a tree-planting initiative that grew into a powerful environmental and human rights movement led by women.
Nearly five decades later, that movement continues to thrive, mobilising grassroots women to protect forests, restore landscapes, and advocate for climate justice. It is a testament to what is possible when women are supported to lead.
If we are to build a green and just economy in Africa, women must be at the centre of that effort. A green economy is not only about cutting carbon emissions, it is about enhancing well-being, improving livelihoods, and creating opportunities for all. With access to training tools and financing, women’s productivity in the green economy could triple.
This is especially true in agriculture, renewable energy, manufacturing, and ecosystem restoration, sectors that will define Africa’s future.
The upcoming Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa presents a vital opportunity to shift course. African governments must send delegations that reflect gender parity.
National climate plans must integrate women’s leadership and address the specific barriers they face. Donors and development partners must support programs that meet women where they are—programs that are flexible, inclusive, and responsive to their real-world priorities.
Last week’s landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice affirmed what many of us have long argued: that states have a binding legal obligation to prevent harm from human-caused climate change.
For Africa, that ruling must be understood not only as a legal mandate but as a moral one. We must act with urgency to protect those most vulnerable to climate change—and that includes centering African women in every climate solution.
Without African women, there is no climate justice. Their leadership is not a side issue or an afterthought. It is central to our collective survival.
Ms Mathai is the MD for Africa & Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute and Chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation
