Fact Sheet
No. 11
Women
and the Environment
Women's participation in
the formulation, planning and execution of environmental policy continues
to be low. At the same time, the international community has recognized
that without women's full participation, sustainable development cannot
be achieved.
Women have a key role to
play in preserving the environment and natural resources, and in promoting
sustainable development. For example, women still have the main responsibility
for meeting household needs and are therefore a major force in determining
consumption trends. As such, women have an essential role to play in
the development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and
production patterns.
The Platform for Action,
adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995,
identified the need to actively involve women in environmental decision-making
at all levels, and to incorporate a gender perspective in all strategies
for sustainable development, as one of the 12 critical areas of concern
requiring action by states, the international community and civil society.
The United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women took up the issue of women and the environment
for discussion during its forty-first session in 1997. The Commission
proposed further action to be taken to promote women's active involvement
in environmental management at all levels, including the mainstreaming
of a gender perspective into all environmental policies and programmes.
Among the agreed conclusions of the session were measures to encourage
gender-sensitive research on the impact of environmental pollutants
and other harmful substances, including their impact on the reproductive
health of men and women, and the active involvement of women in the
development and implementation of policies aimed at promoting and protecting
the environmental aspects of human health, such as setting standards
for drinking water.
Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective
in Environmental Policies
To promote sustainable development,
a number of governments have taken steps to incorporate a gender perspective
into their national environmental policies and programmes.
- Canada has promoted the
mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the sustainable management
of freshwater, oceans and forests, the protection of biodiversity
and combating desertification.
- The National Directorate
for Equality of Women in Colombia is working with the Ministry of
the Environment to incorporate a gender perspective in the planning
and implementation of its programmes.
- Côte d'Ivoire has
developed a National Action Programme on the Environment, which takes
gender concerns into consideration.
Women in Decision-making for Sustainable Development.
One of the strategic objectives of the Platform for Action was the
inclusion of women, including indigenous women, in environmental decision-making
at all levels, as managers, designers, planners, and implementers
of environmental projects.
- Portugal has appointed
a woman as the Minister of the Environment.
- The Canadian Government
has provided financial and policy support for the participation of
indigenous women at various international meetings, including the
participation of a delegation from the Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association
in the 1997 Northern Women, Northern Lives Conference in Norway. The
Conference was convened to enhance the contribution of women in achieving
sustainable development.
- In Tunisia, women hold
19 per cent of senior management positions in the Ministry of Environment
and Regional Development. Women constitute 36 per cent of the Ministry's
staff.
- In Jamaica, women now
make up 37 per cent of the technical staff of the Forestry Department.
Changes in recruitment strategies have raised the percentage of women
working as administrative staff in the environmental sector to 69
per cent.
- In China, as of 1997,
38 per cent of the total staff working in the environmental protection
department were women.
Strengthening Women's Capabilities
There is growing recognition
of the need to strengthen women's capabilities to participate in environmental
decision-making, by increasing their access to information and education,
particularly in the areas of science, technology and economics.
- Iran has organized workshops
on women's participation in environmental protection in order to increase
the number of women working to preserve natural resources. It has
also created a special department in the Environmental Protection
Office for Training and Programming that works to promote rural women's
contribution to environmental protection activities.
- The Congo, Mali and Moldova
are among those countries that have implemented training programmes
to raise the environmental consciousness of women and to transfer
know-how on agricultural technologies and methods to them.
- Germany has developed
a project called "Girls for an Ecological Europe", which
motivates and supports girls who want to get involved in the field
of ecology.
- Jordan has embarked on
the training of rural women in the proper use of agricultural pesticides
and fertilizers, as well as in the use of modern irrigation methods.
- In China, an annual campaign
entitled "March 8 Green Works" has involved the participation
of an estimated 100 million women every year. The campaign focuses
on reforestation, the creation of shelter forests, and water conservation.
- Jamaica, with the support
of the Canadian International Development Agency, has launched a project
called "Trees for Tomorrow", with the aim of involving women
in agro-forestry extension programmes.
- In India, the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) supports the Sanitation, Water and Community
Health Project, which trains women to work as pump mechanics and caretakers
of handpumps. Women regularly maintain and repair the pumps needed
to secure water supply throughout the year.
Empowering Women Economically
The link between poverty
and environmental degradation is well established. Eradication of poverty
has been recognized as an indispensable requirement for the achievement
of sustainable development. The empowerment of the world's poor, the
majority of whom are women, particularly rural women, must therefore
be seen as a necessary part of any environmental conservation strategy.
Recognizing this crucial link, a number of states have incorporated
economic activities into their environmental conservation strategies.
- Through its support for
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Canada has made
possible a project in Mali to train, equip and provide credit for
women to establish a waste-disposal business in Bamako, which currently
provides garbage removal services to 18,000 residents.
- Tunisia has launched a
pilot project on fighting desertification through improving the living
conditions of rural women. Mali and Swaziland are also among these
countries that are pursuing projects to combat desertification, with
the active involvement of women.
- El Salvador is providing
technical assistance for the production of 334,000 young trees in
community nurseries tended by women.
- Through the Aga Khan foundation,
Canada supported the work of women's organizations in India to reclaim
unproductive wasteland lost to salt damage. The women also set up
their own savings clubs to provide small loans to members and to follow
up on new drinking water projects.
Gender Analysis and Research
In an effort to develop
a further understanding of the linkage between gender equality and sustainable
development, a number of governments have embarked on gender sensitive
research on the environment. Efforts have also been made to involve
women themselves in these studies.
- In Namibia, the Ministry
of the Environment and Tourism has launched a programme for women
to research the environmental effects of development on their communities.
- A study conducted in Tunisia
focused on the role of women in the management of natural resources
and efforts to combat desertification.
- In 1997, the German Government
funded the publication of a directory entitled "Who's who in
the women's environmental sector".
- In Iceland, gender analysis
was conducted of whether or not a proposed hydro-electric dam and
aluminium plant would benefit women economically. Women's voices were
prominent in the debate that followed on whether to proceed with the
project from an environmental perspective.
This fact sheet
is based on "Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the
Beijing Platform for Action: Report of the Secretary-General" (E/CN.6/2000/PC/2).
Published
by the United Nations Department of Public Information
DPI/2035/KMay 2000