“SIGRA would also support regional governance stakeholders in the Volta and Northern Regions, and it would strengthen the capacities of the targeted districts to plan and report on climate adaptation initiatives.”

He said additional activities of SIGRA would involve strengthening the participation and influence of women in governing decision making and climate adaptation issues.

According to Mr Quist, the project would focus on soil conservation, restoration, irrigation, forestation, land management and the promotion of relevant climate change technologies, among others.

“This is what we need right now in order to accelerate actions in achieving the goals of the SIGRA project.

“It is our hope that all relevant actors and stakeholders would render their full support and technical expertise to the success of the SIGRA project,” he added.

Harshita Bisht, Project Manager of SIGRA, said the project would strengthen capacities of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to support sub – national planning.

According to Madam Bisht, the SIGRA project would involve MDAs and Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to access climate finance.

She explained that grants up to 40,000 Canadian Dollar a year for a period of three years was up for beneficiaries who would design, implement, monitor, and report on gender responsive climate adaptation projects.

The SIGRA Project Manager stressed on the need to increase awareness at community level on gender inclusive adaptation.

She said SIGRA would increase capabilities around locally led climate finance as well as building on existing institutional systems and best practices to address climate finance gaps.

Dr Rose Mensah -Kutin, West Africa Regional Director of ABANTU for Development, in a presentation on Civil Society Organisations perspective on gender equality and climate adaptation in Ghana, said the impacts of climate change and gender had resulted in disruption of livelihood systems and displacement of communities.

That, she said had denied access to clean water and sanitation facilities and contaminated water bodies.