Activists conclude 300km climate change march

AMMAN — Thirty-two activists on Monday concluded a four-day march from Amman to Aqaba to raise awareness of the impact of climate change.

Eight men withdrew from the challenge on the first day, some for health reasons and some because they could not bear the long distance, but the four participating women, one of whom is 50 years old, were able to continue until the end, one of the participants, Fatima Khudeir, told The Jordan Times.

The 23-year-old intern lawyer said her family and friends supported her decision but other people from the community questioned why she would go on such a march with “strangers”, especially men. 

“I had no idea whether any other women will be part of this challenge but I [participated] to prove that women can do anything,” Khudeir said.

The group walked 80km a day for six or seven hours, suffered shortage of water and food in some places and lack of sleep, pain and exhaustion.

“The only thing that astonished me was that I was not afraid though we were walking in the middle of the night on a dessert road, but the group was like a family that they made me feel safe,” Khudeir recounted. 

The 300km challenge helped her acquire new skills and live a new experience.

The initiative was held to mark the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties, which is currently being hosted in Morocco.

The march, held as part of a regional event in coordination with the Arab Youth Climate Movement, was aimed at highlighting young Jordanians’ role in an environmentally safe future, according to the organisers, Face the Force team and the Green Generation Foundation.