Islamabad
\nThe Embassy of France, in collaboration with the Agence Fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9veloppement (AFD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Aga Khan Foundation, UN Women and the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC), celebrated the achievements of Pakistan\u2019s women climate leaders at the fourth edition of the Gender Climate Award (GCA) 2026 held at Serena Hotel, Islamabad.
\nThe prestigious awards ceremony brought together diplomats, government officials, development partners, civil society representatives, climate advocates, academics and media professionals to recognize women driving innovative climate solutions and environmental stewardship across Pakistan.
\nAmbassador Nicolas Galey of France, accompanied by key stakeholders, presented the 2026 Gender Climate Awards to Dr. Zillay Mariam Sohail and Ms. Songul Jamal in recognition of their outstanding contributions to climate action. Each winner received a cash prize of Rs1 million.
\nThe event was attended by European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Raimundas Karoblis, Head of Secours Islamique France Dr. Altaf Abro, diplomats, rights activists and members of civil society.
\nAddressing the ceremony, Ambassador Galey congratulated the award recipients and praised the growing impact of the initiative launched by the French Embassy in 2023. He noted that the award has expanded significantly over the years, attracting increasing participation from women climate leaders across the country.
\n\u201cIt is a great pleasure to welcome you to this fourth edition of the Gender and Climate Award ceremony. Year after year, this initiative continues to grow in size and attract more candidates and partners,\u201d he said.
\nThe ambassador highlighted France\u2019s commitment to promoting gender equality and climate action through its feminist diplomacy framework, emphasizing that women are disproportionately affected by climate change while playing a crucial role in developing solutions and building resilience.
\nHe noted that this year\u2019s competition received a record 352 applications from across Pakistan, demonstrating the growing momentum of women-led climate initiatives nationwide.
\n\u201cBoth winners impressed the jury through the quality of their work and its impact. Dr. Zillay Mariam Sohail has pioneered innovative green enterprise and technological solutions for plastic and organic waste management, while Songul Jamal has shown exceptional leadership in protecting fragile coral ecosystems and raising environmental awareness among coastal communities,\u201d Ambassador Galey said.
\nHe reaffirmed France\u2019s long-term commitment to supporting climate resilience and gender-inclusive development in Pakistan, noting that since 2006, AFD has supported more than 40 projects in the country with investments exceeding 1.5 billion euros across multiple sectors.
\nAmbassador Galey also paid tribute to Aisha Khan, Chief Executive of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change, for her tireless efforts in advancing climate advocacy and successfully organizing the award programme. He described her as one of Pakistan\u2019s strongest voices on climate issues and commended her team for their dedication.
\nIn her keynote address, Senator Sherry Rehman underscored the indispensable role of women in climate adaptation and disaster response.
\n\u201cWomen are not only affected by climate change but also play a key role in responding to it. Despite social and economic challenges, they lead emergency response and recovery efforts and drive positive change in their communities,\u201d she said.
\nResident Representative, UNDP Pakistan, Dr. Samuel Rizk underscored the need for inclusive and equitable climate action. He stated that \u201cThe women we honor today already know the data, the impact, the statistics, and certainly know the differentiated toll climate change and environmental degradation has on women and girls and the community at the large. In fact, they have already taken action.\u201d
\nFederal Secretary for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Aisha Moriani, who delivered the closing keynote, praised the Embassy of France and partner organizations for promoting women\u2019s leadership in climate action.
\nEstablished to recognize women whose leadership, innovation and commitment are helping communities confront climate challenges and advance sustainable development, the Pakistan Gender Climate Award has now honored ten women climate champions since its inception.<\/p>\n
By: ZUBAIR QURESHI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad The Embassy of France, in collaboration with the Agence Fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9veloppement (AFD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), Aga Khan Foundation, UN Women and the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC), celebrated the achievements of Pakistan\u2019s women climate leaders at the fourth edition of the Gender Climate Award …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98539,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98528\/revisions\/98539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}