Sustainability – How Women Should be Leading the Change.

The move towards understanding and making critical connections between gender, social equity and climate change is all driven towards finding solutions for a better future. This may be achieved by a range of actions from increasing women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles, to redistributing productive resources and work cycles, thereby progressing towards a gender equal and sustainable future.

Empower & Support Women to Lead

Research has shown and proven that both, at an international and regional community level, women’s representation and leadership appear to drive better environmental outcomes. One way is to empower women to lead small- and large-scale businesses. Such businesses should tend to rely on more diverse and climate-resilient products, manufacturing processes and work ethics. Such a well-rounded working model can aid to reach a sustainable alternative to our current model of production and service sectors

They are seen to hold unique and crucial information about notions of conservation and natural resources, thereby making them key voices in the area. In addition to this, it may be noted that, in most dewatering nations, women are often tasked with the management and cultivation of land, forest, water and other natural resources. So, women in rural areas for example, spend most sections of their lives growing food items like crops,  gathering fuel wood, cooking, and carrying water etc. Furthermore, they are also responsible for other decisive roles, such as handling of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Another factor is the special relationship women have with natural resources.

As evidenced above, as consumers and producers, caretakers of their families and educators; women indeed play an essential character in promoting sustainable development. However, due to  various unfortunate reasons such as discrimination, women are unable to exercise their full potential in natural resource and environmental management, given their lack of training, status, land and property rights and capital.

Fund Women’s Organizations

 Another way to put forward women in the said mission is to promote government collaboration with women’s organizations. This can help ensure that climate policies meet the specific needs of women and girls, and that such policies are effectively implemented. In vulnerable and underdeveloped nations and communities, women’s organizations often act as an informal yet reliable safety house and net, bridging gaps between government services and helping to provide emergency support where needed the most. Empowering such community networks is a crucial way to build climate resilience at the local level, and slowly grant them international access.

Protect Women’s Health

Recent research and evidence suggest that women will bear the brunt of climate-linked negative health outcomes. Therefore once again, as with other global crises and disasters, climate change also increases vulnerability to gender-based violence towards women. In this regard, as climate change worsens, it is critical that healthcare services are strengthened and expanded to help keep women healthy and safe in different parts of the world.

Women And Sustainable Development in The UAE’s Current Industry

Sustainable development depends on an equitable distribution of resources for today and  the greener future. It cannot be achieved without gender equality – i.e. and equal, if not an increased, role of women in the community. Thus, women’s empowerment is a key factor for achieving sustainable economic growth, and social development.

In a broad spectrum, women have played a vital role in the global environmental movement. Over the years, women have continued to speak out for policies and practices that threaten the health and well-being of future generations. They continue to fight for improved living standards and protection of the environment. In almost all countries, women are disproportionately represented among the poor. And studies have found that the poor, in urban and rural areas of rich and poor countries, bear the greatest burden of environmental degradation and pollution.
Yet, despite their roles, majority of the women are not adequately represented in the decision-making processes related to the issues of environment and development at local, national or international levels.

Having their expertise, knowledge and perspective been overlooked for years, women are now demanding that their voices be heard. They recognize that an integrated approach to sustainable development is necessary since political, economic, social environmental issues are closely interlinked.

Conclusion

Women’s contribution to sustainable development must be recognized. Women have a strong role in education and socializing their children, including teaching them care and responsibility regarding the use and protection of natural resources. More should be done to increase women’s voice in environmental decision making and to enable women to seize opportunities in the “green economy”. More capacity building programmes and training tailored to the needs of women are needed. To build women as catalyst for sustainable development, their role in family, community and society at large must be free from socio-cultural that prevent women participation. There is need for change of mindset for a better future.

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