The Women Leading Climate Action in Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC reflection report captures the experiences, achievements, and lessons from the Women at the Centre of Climate Justice Initiative implemented by the Women’s International Peace Centre (WIPC) with support from the Global Fund for Women and the Africa Climate Justice Movement. The initiative focused on strengthening women’s leadership in climate adaptation and resilience by supporting women and girls to lead locally driven climate solutions in communities heavily affected by environmental degradation, water scarcity, food insecurity, displacement, and economic vulnerability.
Across Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, women led transformative climate actions that combined environmental restoration, sustainable livelihoods, community mobilisation, and advocacy. These efforts included afforestation and ecosystem restoration, climate justice education, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable waste management, renewable energy alternatives such as briquettes and energy-saving stoves, water access interventions, and the strengthening of women’s participation in local decision-making spaces.
The initiative also invested in building grassroots women’s leadership and collective action by supporting women-led organisations through grants, training, networking, and movement building. Through practical and community-centered approaches, women and girls gained knowledge and skills to respond to climate challenges while strengthening their economic resilience and influence within their communities.
The report further highlights the importance of locally led climate action, the value of working with cultural and community leaders to challenge harmful norms, and the effectiveness of hands-on learning approaches in promoting long-term sustainability. It also reflects on the need to integrate wellness and self-care within climate activism, recognising the emotional and physical toll climate and peacebuilding work often places on women leaders and activists.
