By Joydeep Gupta, IANS
Bali (Indonesia) : They have to walk to fetch water, fodder or fuel wood. They have to work longer hours in fields that fetch less and less. After floods and storms, they still have to put food on the plate.
Women bear the brunt of climate change every year, a global network of women’s groups pointed out here.
As over 10,000 delegates from 187 countries deliberated during the Dec 3-14 UN conference on climate change, acting coordinator of the alliance called genderCC, Ulrike Roehr, said: “We need to question the dominant perspective focusing mainly on technologies and markets, and put caring and justice at the centre of the measures and mechanisms.”
“The lack of gender perspectives in the current climate process not only violates women’s human rights – fundamental principles agreed on by the UN community – but it also leads to shortcomings in the efficiency and effectiveness of climate related measures and instruments,” she said.
Anna Pinto, an activist based in Goa, said the current focus of replacing fossil fuels with biofuels – which she called agrofuels – would only make matters worse for women, as they took land away from food crops or forests.
She called the promotion of agrofuels “a threat to human rights, especially for women, because they face extreme burdens in times of food shortages and water scarcity, which are going to get worse if land is taken away for agrofuels.”
The women’s network pointed out: “Yet, as those charged with meeting the food needs of their families, women in most communities hold the most reliable knowledge about promoting food sovereignty, preserving threatened food supplies, managing and maintaining water sources, and ensuring their families’ survival in the face of shortages.”
The network called upon governments preparing a Bali roadmap to “recognise the vital urgency of gender equality in the growing climate crisis and demonstrate leadership through top-level support for considering gender concerns in all UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) and related process and include the installation of a gender-watch system within UNFCCC.
“Integrate gender aspects into adaptation plans and tools, focusing on specific adaptation needs, and ensuring women’s participation in developing the plans.
“Commit to sustainable and equitable financing scheme and ensure gender equity in all phases and aspects of funding.
“Allocate 20 percent of all donor funds for activities and projects addressing women and designed and implemented by women and gender experts.
“Go beyond the narrow focus on solutions devoted to market-based mechanisms.
“Make full use of the knowledge and capacity of women.
“Adopt a global non-market driven effort to preserve tropical forests, based on addressing direct and underlying causes of deforestation in each region and country.”
The motto of the network: female, male, sustainable.