Building resilient communities that withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change can start with the hard work of women like Sarah Gyamfuah, a young single mother who’s breaking traditional gender roles in Ghana. As team leader on a bridge construction project overseeing scores of workers, Ms Gyamfuah is contributing to the sustainability of her community and gaining valuable skills and experience for her personal development at the same time.

Ms Gyamfuah and other women from Ejura, a suburb of the Sekyere Edumase Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region, are taking part in a European Union funded Cash for Work action under the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana, or GrEEn project with technical support from the UN Capital Development Fund.

LoCAL provides a mechanism to integrate climate change adaptation into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems, increase awareness and response to climate change at the local level. The LoCAL Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) builds on over two decades of UNCDF experience in fiscal decentralization, local public financial management, and local investments and procurement around the world. LoCAL is a further refinement of these experiences.

Now engaged in 31 countries, LoCAL helps to coordinate public policies for adaptation and decentralization. It gives the choice to those most affected by climate change impacts to adapt to new conditions, to test new practices and to live with dignity. LoCAL also makes it possible to increase the level of funds made available to local communities.