By Sabrina Buzzalino, Isis International

ECJ workshop participants creating collages as they reflect on the impacts of climate change on women.

This was the resounding call of participants who attended the recently concluded Isis Activist School on Engendering Climate Justice: The Southeast Asia Experience, in Manila, Philippines from 3-5 August 2010.

The Activist School on Engendering Climate Justice is part of a year long project where Isis endeavored to raise awareness on Southern women's experiences of the impact of climate change, its impact on women and its linkages to other gender issues. The project is aimed at surfacing southern women's perspectives and feminist analyses on climate change and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as strengthening feminist positions on gender and climate change in NGO-led processes.

All over the world , women have cause for celebrations as the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on July 2, 2010 creating the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

UN Women, as it is now named, is the result of years of negotiations between member states, and advocacy by the global women's movement. It is also part of the UN reform agenda that aims to bring together resources and mandates for greater impact and efficiency. More specifically, it is the response to challenges faced by the UN in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and the absence of a single driver recognised to direct all UN activities on gender equality issues.