Girls and women continue to bear unspeakable violence and subjugation due to traditional customs and government-sanctioned actions.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, drought has forced households in Kenya's Maasai area to make incredibly difficult decisions.

When the grass that feeds their cattle vanishes, several parents opt to sell their teenage daughters for survival.

Dorcas Naishorua, a young activist and Miss Climate Kenya 2023 winner, is fully aware of this horrifying fact.

"For a girl to be considered ready for marriage in my community, she first undergoes female genital mutilation. Imagine being 13, mutilated, and then traded for grass to feed cattle," said Naishorua when she was interviewed for the Sustainable Africa Series.

She has taken it upon herself to magnify the voices of those most impacted by this practice, which she characterises as one of the terrible coping methods caused by the community's extended drought.

Her account provides frightening insight into the human toll of climate change, which is all too frequently disregarded in international climate discussions.

Scientists have long sounded the alarm on the disastrous impact of climate change on people's livelihoods and way of life.

Despite Africa feeling the effects of the climate crisis, it is one of the continents with the lowest carbon footprint. Africa which has 17% of the world's population but accounts for less than 4% of global emissions, faces a disproportionate weight of the climate catastrophe.

Cyclones have ravaged countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Madagascar, and others. Climate disasters are predicted to cost African countries between $290 and $440 billion each year.

Against this context, the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), backed by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union, and other regional organisations, issued a unified proposal for $1.3 trillion in yearly climate funding at COP29.

However, by the end of the conference, they had obtained a commitment of just $300 billion each year until 2035.

"This is too little, too late for a continent facing climate devastation while contributing the least to emissions," said Ali Mohamed, Chair of the AGN. "When Africa loses, the world loses - its biodiversity, its minerals, and its stability."

So, as many more African countries face the dire consequences of the climate crisis, the most vulnerable populations, children, mostly girls and women will be the first to experience more violence.

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