Huairou Commission Delegation Amplifies Grassroots Women’s Voices at CBA20

Huairou’s delegation at CB20

Manila, Philippines – The Huairou Commission (HC) joined community leaders, policymakers, climate funders and adaptation practitioners at the 20th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA20), where HC grassroots members took the stage as speakers and called for greater local participation in shaping climate adaptation responses.

HC’s delegation included grassroots leaders from Kenya, Nepal, and the Philippines – representing member organizations Polycom Girls, Nepal Mahila Ekata Samaj, Bantay Banay, CO-Multiversity, ULAP Confederation, Alliance of People’s Organization Along Manggahan Floodway, and Solidarity of Oppressed Filipino People – alongside HC staff. Members spoke in sessions on water and infrastructure governance, innovative financing in urban contexts, and accountability roundtables, drawing on their direct experiences with evictions, water insecurity, and use of HC’s Community Resilience Fund for locally-led adaptation in urban informal communities.

In a session on financing urban climate action, Bhagavati Adhikari of NMES, Nepal underscored the barriers grassroots organizations face in accessing formal climate funds and called on donors and governments to adopt simplified, community-designed processes. Jane Anyango of Polycom Girls, Kenya connected gender-based violence, water access, and the urgent need for policies co-developed with communities, while, Adelqueen Asis of ULAP, called for investing in community-led governance models.

On the sidelines, HC engaged with partners and funders from the Asian Development Bank, the Adaptation Fund, and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, exploring pathways to channel climate finance directly to grassroots communities

HC and its members also contributed to CBA20’s future visioning process, calling for more sponsored grassroots participation at future conferences and for CBA to serve as a platform for direct dialogue between community leaders and funders.

“Everything should start with us – communities should not be treated as projects,” said Cherry Barnuevo of SOFP Philippines from the conference floor.