Blogs & Opinions

CoP: Only 25% Nations Include Gender Discussions in Land Degradation Targets

Sep 9, 2019 | Shagun Kapil

Only around 20 of more than 80 countries have included discussions on the role of gender and women in their targets to halt land degradation…

If Women, Peace and Security Agenda Is to Be More Than Words, Congress Must Stay Engaged

Sep 4, 2019 | Sahana Dharmapuri and Hans Hogrefe

On paper, proponents of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in the U.S. have a lot to celebrate. Twenty years after the international community…

South Africa: How More Women in Agriculture Will End Food Security, Tackle Land Reform

Aug 8, 2019

Addressing gender disparities in the agricultural sector is a prerequisite to increasing women and youth participation in the sector, creating much-needed employment opportunities and ensuring…

Support African Women Working in Agriculture

Aug 8, 2019 | Esther Ngumbi

As South Africa commemorates Women’s Month, the country will reflect on the progress made in achieving gender equality and main-streaming the gender agenda across all…

Women's Participation in Myanmar's Peace Process

Aug 8, 2019 | Akanksha Khullar

For years, women in Myanmar have been powerful advocates for comprehensive peace and good governance, calling for reconciliation and democratic transition; demanding legislations that protect…

Agriculture's Secret Weapon: Empowering Women

Aug 6, 2019 | Patrick Galey and Laure Fillon

Women farmers face the brunt of the threat posed by climate change, yet they may hold the key to helping limit its fallout, according to…

Women, Land and Conflict

Aug 1, 2019 | United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs

Land is part of our identity and is essential for our livelihood. With a growing world population, available land is growing scarcer, becoming even more…

The Role of Women and Youth in Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

Aug 1, 2019 | Tatiana LeGrand

On the 15th of July, nations around the world celebrated the World Youth Skills Day. In defining the importance of the skills of the youth,…

Mainstreaming Gender in India's Climate-Smart Agriculture Policy

Jul 30, 2019 | Mikhila Menon

India needs to adopt a climate-smart agriculture policy that includes a ‘gender lens’. Since most Indian agriculture is rain-fed, the intensifying effects of climate change…

East African Policy Makers Advocate for Gender in Climate Policy

Jul 26, 2019 | Mary Nyasimi, Dana Elhassan and Faith Gikunda

Policy makers from nine East African countries pledge to lobby governments and policy influencers to consider gender mainstreaming in national climate change policies.

Climate, Conflict and Gender

Jul 25, 2019 | OSCE

Mary Robinson, founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Change and chair of The Elders, the group of global leaders established by Nelson Mandela,…

Climate Change: Global Threats Imperil Women of Color

Jul 17, 2019 | Bonnie Jenkins

Women of color are the most impacted by global insecurity. For this reason, their leadership is vital to tackling these challenges.I am frequently asked to…

The Missing Piece of Climate Action: Supporting the Leadership of Girls and Women

Jul 16, 2019 | Michelle Milford Morse

To change everything, we need everyone – and that means we need to harness the wisdom and leadership of girls and women to protect the…

From Syria to Sudan, Women Rights Defenders Need More Than Likes

Jul 15, 2019 | Lubna Alkanawati

As a Syrian activist, seeing this photo of Ala'a reminded me of the brave girls and women who also called for change0 in streets, in…

Liberia: "Land Rights Education Will Empower Women, Girls"

Jul 9, 2019 | Alvin Worzi

The Land Rights Act (LRA), which was passed into law in 2018 by members of the 54th Legislature, will serve as an impetus that will…

Inclusion of Women in Decision-Making on Environment-Related Security Challenges is Key for Equitable, Safe and Stable Societies Concludes OSCO Event

Jul 5, 2019

Including women at all stages of the planning and decision-making processes in environmental security enables more effective and sustainable responses to the challenges we face,…

Why Gender Equality is Needed for Successful Climate Policies

Jul 4, 2019 | Anna Sophia Carrigou

On a trip to the Niger Delta when she was young, Alexandra Wandel witnessed how Shell’s leaked oil pipelines and gas flaring were polluting the water, soil…

Climate Change is a Women's Human Rights Issue

Jul 4, 2019 | Keina Yoshida and Lina Cespedes

On the February 7th 2018, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) enacted its first general recommendation which focuses…

Women May Be More Vulnerable to Climate Change but Data Absent

Jul 1, 2019 | Namratha Rao and Anita Raj

Women are more likely to observe the impact of climate change on their lives, and are more vulnerable to such impacts, anecdotal evidence has shown.…

Women Are the Key to Unlocking Peace

Jun 30, 2019 | Isha Tembe

The adoption of UN Security Resolution 1325 was supposed to be a turning point for women as it affirmed that women hold a unique experience…

Women Defenders of the Land and the Environment: Silenced Voices

Jun 27, 2019 | Oxfam

The expansion of large scale mining activities and agribusiness in Latin America has greatly increased territorial disputes and resulted in an alarming rise in violence…

Gender, Indigenous Peoples and Poverty in Latin American NDCs

Jun 27, 2019 | Paz Gonzalez and Yanina Nemirovsky

Indigenous perspectives are important to the design and implementation of climate policies and here’s why. Indigenous people contribute to the conservation of 80% of the…

Kenyan Tribe Divided Over Women's Land Rights After Landmark Ruling

Jun 25, 2019 | Dominic Kirui

A few months ago, the idea of coming home with a hoe in one hand and a sack of freshly harvested potatoes in the other…

Women's Land Rights: a Journey to Understand Nuances and Explore Challenges

Jun 20, 2019 | Aditya Chaturvedi

Journeys that compel us to introspect and leave us stunned are not beatific odysseys or intrepid sagas peppered with swashbuckling antics, but there is unvarnished…

Three Surprising Solutions to Climate Change

Jun 10, 2019 | Jeff McMahon

When the analysts at Project Drawdown quantified the impact of 100 solutions to climate change, they were surprised by some of their results, the organization's executive…

Women as Climate Action Ambassadors in Coastal Districts of India's Odisha State

Jun 7, 2019 | UN Environment

People in the coastal districts of the eastern Indian state of Odisha are increasingly suffering from the effects of climate change. Most households in the…

Why More Women Should Be Included in the Leadership of Virunga National Park

Jun 6, 2019 | Judith Verweijen, Janvier Murairi, and Esther Marijnen

Since 2014, the number of female park guards serving in Virunga National Park, located in war-ridden eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been gradually…

27 Women Leading the Charge to Protect Our Environment

Jun 6, 2019 | Veronique Hyland, Naomi Rougeau and Julie Vandal

Scientists have called our current, climate change–threatened era the Anthropocene, but as the eco-economist Kate Raworth once joked, women are left out of the narrative…

Champions for Change: The Power of Women Peacemakers and Peacebuilders in Ukraine

Jun 3, 2019

In 2009, Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan sat in the United Nations Security Council when then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presided over a debate on…

Women's Land Rights: Shifting Power for Gender Equality

May 31, 2019 | Beth Roberts

Achieving gender equality requires a fundamental shift in the balance of power over resources. Globally, from urban financial centers to remote communities, from international bodies…