Blogs & Opinions

Agriculture & COVID-19: Pro Women Farmer Policies Needed

Aug 1, 2020 | Binod Sinha

A two-week survey conducted during the lockdown by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA)…

COVID-19 and the Food System: Setback or Opportunity for Gender Equality?

Jul 31, 2020 | Catherine Ragasa and Isabel Lambrecht

Agriculture and the food sector are critical to food and nutrition security. They not only produce food for growing populations but also contribute to economic…

Scale Climate Action by Engaging With Women’s Organizations: Why Climate and Gender Funders Must Work Together

Jul 28, 2020 | Jeannette Gurung

Global frameworks for climate action, including but not limited to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, have recognized that they must…

We Can't Build Back Better Without Economic Justice for Racialized Women

Jul 28, 2020 | Carmina Ravanera and Anjum Sultana

This summer has been one of racial reckoning. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions joined in Black Lives Matter protests around the world, protesting…

Fund Resilience: Create Systemic Change by Working at the Nexus of Climate and Gender

Jul 23, 2020 | Prachi Seth

Women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their high dependency on natural resources for their livelihoods coupled with lesser economic,…

How COVID-19 Can Bring Gender Justice

Jul 23, 2020 | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Helena Dalli

Disasters shape the course of history. In the wake of the Spanish flu of 1918, more women entered the labour market and in roles previously…

To Solve the Climate Crisis, Women Must Own More of the World's Land

Jul 21, 2020 | Martha Merrow

Land, women, and climate change: the future of all three are intrinsically connected and must be addressed comprehensively to create equitable change and a livable…

Crisis Reveals the Fault Lines of Gender in Environmentalism—How Do We Value Everyday Environments?

Jul 20, 2020 | Nathalie Blanc, Sandra Laugier, Pascale Molinier, and Anne Querrien

These are times of crisis. One might even think that the COVID-19 crisis looks like a an alternative expression of crises that are already building,…

Why Gender Provisions in Peace Agreements Are Not Enough to Ensure Post-Conflict Progress for Women

Jul 20, 2020 | Nicole Smith

The United Nations recently announced that almost 80 million people were forcibly displaced around the world last year due to war, conflict, or persecution. As COVID-19 continues…

In Mozambique, Promoting Biodiversity Includes Greater Gender Equality

Jul 17, 2020 | Amanda Jerneck and Carmen Lahoz Rallo

Increasing girls’ access to education and empowering women has become a core intervention area of the Mozambique Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) Portfolio, of which MozBio is…

COVID-19 and Gender Equality: Countering the Regressive Effects

Jul 15, 2020 | Anu Madgavkar, Olivia White, Mekala Krishnan, Deepa Mahajan, and Xavier Azcue

As COVID-19 continues to affect lives and livelihoods around the world, we can already see that the pandemic and its economic fallout are having a regressive…

How Women Can Power the Green Transition

Jul 15, 2020 | Irene Giner-Reichl

The world needs to shift from the current fossil-fuel-based energy system to carbon neutrality. Most obviously, this will require countries to roll out renewable energy…

Gender Equity and Climate Change Have More in Common Than You Think

Jul 14, 2020 | Katica Roy

Gender equity is a lot like climate change. It’s a horizontally-integrated issue that largely exists inside a vertically-integrated policy framework. Now is the time to change…

A Dashboard Overview: Gender Inequality and the COVID-19 Crisis

Jul 13, 2020 | Carolina Rivera, Yu-Chieh Hsu, Fernanda Pavez Esbry, and Esuna Dugarova

The human development crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic is putting the fight for gender equality at risk. The immediate effects of COVID-19 are already…

The Power of Women on Pathways to Net-Zero Emissions

Jul 9, 2020 | Linda Coady

When we think about transforming our energy systems, we need to make sure that transformation happens in a way that is not only innovative and…

Mainstreaming Gender When Incorporating Advanced Technology In Agriculture

Jul 8, 2020 | Novela Acharya

With the globalization, massive technological advancement has been observed which has revolutionized the whole world and transformed our daily lives. This digital revolution has not…

Why Investing in Women's Land Rights Helps Overall Gender Equality

Jul 7, 2020 | Karol Boudreaux

It is depressing, discouraging, infuriating – pick your word – to see the scale and scope of abuse and discrimination aimed at women and girls…

Unlocking the Biggest Resource We Have to Fight COVID-19 and Climate Change: Women in STEMM

Jul 2, 2020 | Anna Madlener and Natalie Unterstell

In times of the Covid-19 outbreak, social isolation is illuminating the gender gap perhaps like never before. Just count how many online “manels’’ (a panel…

In Guatemala, Investing in Indigenous Women's Economic Empowerment is Key to Building Back Better After COVID-19

Jun 29, 2020

Since March 2020, Guatemala has recorded more than 600 COVID-19 deaths and over 11,000 infections. Amidst this crisis, indigenous women have continued to use their…

Gender and Climate – Scaling Impact with a Cross-Cutting Agenda

Jun 29, 2020 | Ting Nan Wang

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the destructive nature of global crises without immediate resolutions. Likewise, the effects of climate change are slated to be…

Three Cheers for the Power, Promise of Gender Equity in Agriculture

Jun 29, 2020 | Denise E. Antonio

We need the talents and energy of both men and women to power this sector and contribute to Jamaica's economy — an economy which must…

Prioritizing Gender Equality in Post COVID-19 Tourism

Jun 27, 2020 | Jennifer Musson

Covid-19 has had an unprecedented impact on tourism with the UNWTO anticipating a 60-80% decline in international tourism. The crisis has laid bare structural inequalities…

Op-ed: Build Back Better: Women at the Centre of Decision-Making

Jun 26, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world and our world view, deepening pre-existing inequalities, and exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems. Across every…

The Gender Dimension of Sustainable Development

Jun 24, 2020 | Michael Fitzpatrick

Despite the recent ravages of plague, war, and pestilence, we humans still excel in one unceasing task — breeding. So much so, humanity is on…

How Can Extractive Sector Laws and Policies Contribute to Gender Equality?

Jun 23, 2020

What do governments and international organizations mean when they say that they aim to advance gender equity in the context of natural resource governance? Many governments…

Reports Highlight the Need for Further Consideration of Gender, Climate, and Security Linkages

Jun 22, 2020 | Magdalena Baranowska

In a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) paper, Elizabeth Seymour Smith, a Research Assistant with SIPRI’s Climate Change and Risk Programme, explores the intersection of…

Scope for Improvement: Linking the Women, Peace and Security Agenda to Climate Change

Jun 18, 2020 | Elizabeth S. Smith

Climate change can increase the risks of violent conflict, create risks to human security, and challenge conflict recovery and peacebuilding in different contexts. In many…

Local People Hold the Key to Solving Burkina Faso’s Water Challenges

Jun 17, 2020 | Liza Debevec

Thanks to its usually abundant rice production, the Kou River Valley has for decades been known as Burkina Faso’s granary. But then the water stopped flowing.The…

Sustainability for All: Gender Diversity in the Renewable Energy Industry

Jun 17, 2020 | Joanne Fixter

The global renewable energy industry is growing at a faster rate than ever, creating more and more jobs throughout its supply chain requiring a diverse…

Gender Awareness: Towards a Sustainable and Just Energy Transition. Part I

Jun 16, 2020 | Kathrin Meyer

According to the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls is the is the “foundation…