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Freshwater And Ocean Protection

/Freshwater And Ocean Protection

 

7 12, 2023

We Must Shut Down Factory Farms To Protect Clean Water And Environmental Justice

2023-12-07T17:44:57-05:00Tags: |

Gloria Reuben is the president of Waterkeeper Alliance, a global advocacy group network that protects the world’s waters. She brings attention to the impacts of factory farming on environmental justice. The way food is currently being produced is wreaking havoc on ecosystems and on people’s livelihoods. This is particularly true for animal agriculture, with concentrated animal feeding operations being the most damaging. In the United States, waste and discharge from these farms are largely unregulated, leading to pollution of both water and air. This has catastrophic downstream effects as drinking water becomes contaminated and river ecosystems and fisheries collapse, resulting in economic losses that cost billions annually to repair this damage. Additionally, pathogen-filled water and polluted air poses public health risks, predominantly in the form of respiratory disease and infection. This issue is also an example of environmental racism, as these farms are predominantly located in rural locations near communities of color, whose health will be negatively impacted the most. To combat this social and ecological issue, Reuben urges for proper enforcement of existing legislation like the Clean Water Act and passing of new legislations like the Farm Reform Act in order to transition away from these harmful practices towards sustainable food production by legitimately independent actors. Furthermore, those who can, are encouraged to avoid buying from companies that perpetuate this devastating factory farming system.  Photo Credit: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Lightrocket via Getty Images 

18 05, 2023

The Many Lives of Water

2024-02-26T09:44:26-05:00Tags: |

Water holds significant cultural importance in Indigenous communities, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Hawai‘i, and the Southwest of the United States. This article highlights the global challenge of accessing clean water, which is now threatened due to commodification. It advocates for repairing our relationship with water, valuing it as a sacred and essential element for all life. While women leaders and specific organizations are not mentioned, the text showcases how Indigenous communities protect water even in regions with limited access. It emphasizes the spiritual connection to water and encourages decentralized, safe, affordable, and accessible solutions to address water challenges. Photo Illustration Credits: Mer Young for YES! Media

23 04, 2023

Diane Wilson on Fighting Plastic Pollution, Losing Everything, and Gaining Her Soul

2024-02-26T09:30:03-05:00Tags: |

Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper from Seadrift, Texas, has been leading a three-decade-long fight against Formosa Plastics' pollution. The company's toxic polyvinyl chloride powder covered the town, leading to health issues and harm to the local fishing industry. Wilson persisted through hunger strikes, arrests, and legal action, becoming an ally to Vietnamese fishermen wrongly blamed for the pollution's impact. In 2019, her efforts paid off with a historic $50 million settlement from Formosa for plastic nurdle pollution. Wilson donated the settlement to environmental causes. Her work upholds climate justice, highlights women's resistance, and emphasizes the need for women's involvement in climate action. The fight for accountability and sustainable solutions showcases her story and dedication to environmental justice. Photo Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

28 01, 2023

Campaigners want the North Sea to be given legal rights. How would it work?

2023-11-28T14:22:21-05:00Tags: , |

The Embassy of the North Sea in The Hague, founded in 2018, is fighting to get the legal rights of the North Sea recognized. The group’s director of communications, Christiane Bosman, states that the main purpose of the Embassy is to increase public support for the rights of nature in the North Sea and give the Dutch government ‘concrete proposals’ on how to do so, by 2030. From 1969 to 2017, the North Sea’s average surface temperature has risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius. Currently, Dutch civil law does not recognize or grant legal personhood to nature. Only humans possess the legal right to sue in environmental matters. Legal expert and UN advisor for the Rights of Nature, Laura Burgers, notes that the Embassy’s work is centered on recognizing the sea as a living being that can make decisions, and should be allowed to have a say it what is allowed and not allowed to happen to it, i.e. fishing practices or fossil fuel extraction. This case is one of hundreds all over the world, as many other places are fighting to have important ecological regions granted their rights.  Photo Credit: Paul Einerhand/Unsplash

5 01, 2023

Nature’s Tools Help Clean Up Urban Rivers

2024-02-14T10:16:22-05:00Tags: , |

This article, written by Katherine Rapin, explores the work of various organizations dedicated to restoring freshwater ecosystems through the reintroduction of bivalves (oysters and mussels) and aquatic plant species. These organisms improve water quality in numerous ways including nutrient cycling, acting as carbon sinks, and holding sediment together. Rapin highlights the work of Danielle Kreeger, the science director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, which oversees a freshwater mussel hatchery in the Philadelphia area. One important dimension of reintroduction work is retaining the genetic diversity of wild populations, while also not introducing any diseases. Kreeger mentions the work her team is conducting on biosecurity to ensure the safety of bivalve populations. As well, experts emphasize how reintroduction measures must be conducted in conjunction with other frameworks to decrease contaminants, especially the addition of excess nutrients in these waterways. According to Kelly Somers, the senior watershed coordinator of the EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region, in recent years, there have been discoveries of healthy seagrass beds along the Delaware River which are signifiers of improved water quality. Through decades of aquatic plant work, scientists attribute the growth of these populations to nature’s own capabilities in self-restoration and reductions in excess nutrients.  Photo Credit: Katherine Rapin

2 12, 2022

Queensland’s Indigenous women rangers given Earthshot prize for protecting Great Barrier Reef

2023-11-28T16:51:52-05:00Tags: |

The Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network (QIWRN) was awarded a $1.8 million Earthshot prize for the work it has done in protecting the Great Barrier Reef. In Queensland, only about 20% of Indigenous rangers are women. Founded in 2018, the QIWRN has been able to train more than sixty women, many of whom go on to work as rangers or within conservation. Earthshot has described the work of QIWRN as ‘vital’ and explains how 60,000 years of First Nations knowledge and digital technology has given insight into one of the most critical ecosystems in the world and how to protect ecosystems like it. Photo Credit: Jeremy Tomlinson

22 11, 2022

How Floating Wetlands Are Helping to Clean Up Urban Waters

2023-12-07T17:35:07-05:00Tags: |

As urban waters continue to face increasing pollution and degradation, researchers are installing artificial floating wetlands to combat the issue. Susan Cosier, an environmental and scientific journalist, reports on how these efforts are playing out in Chicago’s rivers. Instead of the uniform steel walls that usually surround urban river edges, Urban Rivers, a Chicago-based nonprofit, is replacing them with floating wetlands to recreate a natural river system. The floating islands host a diverse selection of native flora which help to filter contaminants and capture chemicals and metals in the water. The removal of surplus agricultural nutrients prevents harmful algal blooms that block out crucial oxygen and sunlight from reaching aquatic life. One researcher found that one acre of floating wetland is able to absorb the nutrient pollution produced by 7 to 15 acres of urban development. These wetlands also provide habitat for other plants to grow and aid invertebrates like mollusks and crustaceans in repopulating in the Chicago River. These efforts are multiplying globally, with projects taking place across the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and the United States. While these wetlands have incredible environmental benefits, researchers emphasize that they are just one tool that must be accompanied by other efforts to regulate and reduce pollution at the source. Photo Credit: Dave Burk/SOM

3 05, 2022

The ‘Queen of the Mantas’ Who Became a Force of Nature

2024-02-19T13:53:19-05:00Tags: |

In Mozambique's Inhambane Seascape, marine biologist Andrea Marshall emerges as a leading voice in ocean conservation. Co-founding the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) in 2003, she focuses on protecting the region's diverse marine life, particularly mantas, rays, sharks, whales, dugongs, and turtles. Marshall's groundbreaking research, tag-and-track projects, and genetic libraries aim to combat declining populations caused by overfishing, habitat degradation, and climate change. Notably, she led the scientific assessment that upgraded the giant manta's status from vulnerable to endangered on the IUCN Red List. Upholding a climate justice framework, Marshall's work emphasizes women's involvement in decision-making for sustainable solutions. Her dedication to preserving ocean life inspires future generations to cherish and protect the wonders of the sea. Photo Credits: Natasha Donovan for Atlas Obscura

25 02, 2022

Indigenous knowledge ‘gives us a much richer picture’: Q&A with Māori researcher Ocean Mercier

2024-02-20T10:40:26-05:00Tags: |

In Aotearoa, commonly referred to as New Zealand, the Māori, native to the region, possess a wealth of oceanic knowledge that has historically been undervalued. Māori researcher, Ocean Mercier, is working to elevate Māori traditional knowledge, known as mātauranga, regarding oceans in both academic and community settings, with a focus on marine conservation. Despite a vast maritime environment, the ocean is a unifying force for Indigenous communities. British colonization marginalized Māori traditional knowledge, but recent efforts have been made to integrate it into scientific communities to improve conservation practices, particularly in marine ecosystems. Mercier promotes the connection between Māori language and mātauranga, demonstrating how it complements Western science and how it provides a more detailed picture of knowledge and history. She advocates for equitable recognition of diverse knowledge systems. Photo Credit: Project Matauranga

6 01, 2022

Indonesia’s Womangrove Collective Reclaims The Coast From Shrimp Farms

2023-07-02T00:09:27-04:00Tags: |

Indonesia is home to the most mangroves in the world, however mangrove ecosystems are at risk to be cleared for development, a situation exacerbated by a poor economic state. Mangroves are locally and globally significant carbon sinks that provide many ecological services to coastal communities such as land protection from erosion and big tidal waves, increased biodiversity, and aquaculture. This article highlights the many ways the Womangrove collective are influential in combating mangrove deforestation. Womangrove was founded in 2015 by women in the Tanakeke Islands of Indonesia, and originally started as a business-orientated group aiming to plant and protect mangroves for sustainable aquaculture farming. Over the years Womangrove has developed into an ecological restoration program with a focus on addressing the deforestation of mangrove trees (replanting more than 110,000 mangrove seedlings!) and improving gender equality by providing local women educational courses and skill building.  Photo credit: Wahyu Chandra/Mongabay-Indonesia

1 01, 2022

Indigenous Feminism Flows Through The Fight For Water Rights On The Rio Grande

2023-06-04T09:54:16-04:00Tags: |

Kalen Goodluck (Dine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian) and Christine Trudeau (Prairie Band Potawatomi) highlight the Rio Grande Pueblo Nations' extremely difficult path to quantified Rio Grande water rights. The negative impacts on the Rio Grande's water quality and quantity due to the climate crisis and non-Native interventions compound this struggle. Despite challenges, the Pueblo nations have hope and are taking action. In particular, three Indigenous women are highlighted for their work in fighting for quantified water rights to protect their communities, culture, and future generations. Notably, Julia Bernal (Sandia, Taos, and Yuchi-Creek Nations of Oklahoma), the director and co-founder of the Pueblo Action Alliance, which centers youth involvement in their advocacy for water rights; Judge Verna Teller (Isleta Pueblo), the Chief Justice of Isleta Pueblo who played a major role in having Isleta become the first tribal nation to create water-quality standards through the Clean Water Act; and Phoebe Suina (San Felipe and Cochiti Pueblos), hydrologist and owner of High Water Mark, an Indigenous and women-led environmental consulting company which specializes in water-resource engineering. 

1 12, 2021

Lax Kw’alaams Woman Crashes Trudeau LNG Press Conference

2021-12-13T21:13:22-05:00Tags: |

Prime Minister Trudeau’s administration held a press conference in which Premier Christy Clark announced the approval of the Pacific Northwest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project. Premier Clark was praising the project for promoting clean energy and being of low cost when Christine Smith-Martin, of the Lax Kw’alaams, interrupted the conference to ask a very pressing question: “what about our salmon?” Smith-Martin then elaborated, saying that the environmental impact of the project was not being addressed by conference speakers, nor had indigenous communities been consulted in a meaningful way prior to the decision. Minister Catherine Mckenna, in turn, said that the impact on salmon has been assessed and there should not be significant effects. Smith-Martin was not convinced, and she insisted this project must be opposed. Salmon is vital to indigenous communities, and it must be treated as such. Video credit: Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition

5 11, 2021

Female Equality Is Key to A Sustainable Future

2022-05-14T16:44:54-04:00Tags: |

Since women across Asia and Africa are often responsible for supplying their households with water, food and fuel, the path towards a sustainable world requires, in part, full gender equality. But the effects of climate change, in conjunction with natural disasters, make women’s lives that much harder. For instance, when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, a result was the increased sexual exploitation of women and girls. After Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, violence against women increased by a factor of four in Mississippi and remained high years later. Women are however continuing to pursue the ideal of a sustainable world. In Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai initiated a massive tree-planting effort that became known as the Greenbelt Movement. More than 5,000 village women in Andra Pradesh, working with the Deccan Development Society, transitioned to organic farming, greatly reducing the carbon impact of agriculture. It is clear that empowering women is key to tackling climate change. Photo credit: Adam Jones

27 10, 2021

Cath Wallace Protects The Arctic

2022-05-14T17:05:41-04:00Tags: |

Cath Wallace is a Lecturer at Victoria University in economics and public policy. She has also chaired Environment and Conservation Organizations of New Zealand (ECO), an alliance of NGOs concerned for the environment and the impacts of climate change. She along with several other activists led a strong resistant movement against a campaign by business interests to pare down the national Resource Management Act in 1990s. She has worked extensively to protect the Antarctica and repudiation of Antarctic Mineral Convention. Lastly, she pressed the Ministry of fisheries in New Zealand to stop violating under New Zealand Fisheries Act of 1996. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

6 07, 2021

Don’t Ignore the One Group That Can Make Climate Action Happen

2021-07-06T18:30:57-04:00Tags: |

The El Niño cycle is a global climate cycle that occurs every three to seven years with varying intensity. During 2016, this cycle was especially strong and, in combination with climate change, led to widespread drought and hunger for many states in Southern Africa. Women were particularly impacted. This was because they were forced to spend more time gathering scarce water as well as eat less themselves in order to prioritize the nutritional needs of men and children. Increased sex work and child marriages were also a result. And while Southern Africa is now on its way to recovery, building future resilience to climate change means addressing the special vulnerabilities of women as well as prioritizing their leadership. Photo credit: Ish Mafundikwa/IRIN  

6 07, 2021

Small-Scale Women Seaweed Farmers Ride the Rough Tides of Climate Change

2021-07-06T15:01:13-04:00Tags: |

On the Philippine island of Palawan, traditionally, fishing has been the means of support for most inhabitants. Over the last twenty years, because of climate change and a variety of other factors, fish are no longer as abundant as they once were. Local women, who were previously largely homemakers, have responded to this difficult situation by taking up seaweed farming. The revenue offered by this endeavor has been a welcome addition to household incomes. But climate change is also already affecting the viability of seaweed farms. The women farmers are rising to the challenge by improving seaweed harvesting and drying methods, using better tools and developing early warning systems for typhoons. Photo credit: Mongabay

6 07, 2021

Women in the Water Sector: Working Together for the Future

2021-07-06T14:57:10-04:00Tags: |

Studies show that there is a lack of women working in the water sector, which includes a lack of women leaders. Specifically, less than twenty percent of water workers are women in the United States. But the water organizations that include female leadership tend to benefit—whether women are included in sustainability, community engagement or economic development roles. Keisha Brown, one such leader, has had extensive experience working in community-based partnerships to improve water quality while remaining accountable to the local communities the work is enacted in. According to her, the lens of social justice must be applied to the infrastructure industry and the impacts of infrastructure on people’s well-being should be carefully assessed. Photo Credit: Storm Water Solutions

13 04, 2021

CASA Y GAGGA – Agua, Derechos E Igualdad

2021-04-13T17:49:14-04:00Tags: |

Though South America has many water sources, many communities in the region go without sufficient clean drinking water. Lack of water puts a serious strain on women’s lives as well as their ability to farm. This is particularly true of Bolivian women living in the Chaco area, a region that is dry for many months of the year. During the dry period, communities rely on the muddy water that remains in the bed of the Rio Grande. Purifying the water with a local plant helps but it yields a product that is far from potable. The CASA Socioenvironmental Fund is an organization that runs many projects across South America with the objective of empowering local women so they can better serve their community and further environmental justice. The projects include water storage tanks for specific regions, developing farmers associations, and supporting indigenous female leaders. Video Credit: Fundo Casa Socioambiental. Caption: Video is in Spanish, but English subtitles are available.

13 04, 2021

No Woman No Water: Empowering Women To Be Water And Sanitation Decision-Makers

2021-04-13T17:45:00-04:00Tags: |

Women are responsible for carrying water home, storing it, and managing household supplies but are still ignored when it comes to important water management decisions. Incorporating women’s voices into water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues empowers the women themselves while simultaneously leading to better results. For instance, including women in the movement to curtail open defecation in rural Bangladesh led to success because the specific needs and desires of the women were then met. Specifically, because of this input, the toilets that were to be placed in rural communities were designed with gender specific needs in mind as well as placed in locations amenable to local women. Photo Credit: Dilip Banerjee

13 04, 2021

Women Speak Out Against Criminalization Of Land Defenders, Water Protectors

2021-04-13T17:28:07-04:00Tags: |

This article highlights the issue of unjust criminalisation and disproportionate state violence against indigenous women water and land protectors. While indigenous people constitute about 4% of Canada’s population, they represent 27% of the incarcerated population in 2018. According to the Canada’s Correctional Investigator Indigenous, women constituted 37% of all women behind bars and 50% of all maximum security inmates in 2017. Mi’kmaw lawyer and academic Pam Palmater evokes the targeting and criminalisation of Indigenous women by Canadian state authorities as historically rooted in a colonising strategy, since they bear children who will carry on the culture and language of their nations. Pamela says that indigenous women’s perseverance and leadership should not be lost in the conversation and concludes that ‘even though Indigenous women have always been targeted, both in the law directly and indirectly, they continue to stand up for the land and for their children despite knowing what’s coming’. Photo Credit: Amber Bernard/APTN

2 12, 2020

Sea Change: Behind Bahama’s Plastic Ban

2024-02-19T13:30:22-05:00Tags: |

In this article, we meet Kristal Ambrose, a 30-year-old ocean pollution advocate in the Bahamas. She successfully led the efforts, along with the Bahamas Plastic Movement, to pass a ban on single-use plastics in the country. Despite this achievement, Ambrose remains committed to tackling the larger issue of plastic pollution and consumer waste in general, striving for a zero-waste future. The article also emphasizes the disproportionate impact of petrochemical plants that pump out single-use items on communities of color and the need for climate justice. Ambrose's work showcases women's resistance and resilience in environmental and social justice, while also underscoring the importance of involving young people in sustainability initiatives. Photo credits: Ahmed Areef / Getty Images

20 11, 2020

Portraying Women Leadership in Water Cooperation

2020-11-20T17:59:52-05:00Tags: |

Women For Water has compiled the audio- visuals of eight women who are conserving the water all over the world. These women Nomvula Mokonyane, Svitlana Slesarenok, Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Rose Makunzo Mwangi, Ethne Davey, Dr. Deepthi Wickramasinghe, Patricia Wouters and Salamatu Garba. They have been bringing the best practices of women empowerment in water and sanitation projects and effective water governance at all levels.

16 11, 2020

Study: Female members of coastal fishing households lack empowerment

2024-02-26T09:19:56-05:00Tags: |

In the coastal villages of Cox's Bazar, Bhola, and Bagerhat districts in Bangladesh, female members of fishing households face significant challenges in political empowerment and economic participation. COAST Trust, a national NGO, conducted a study revealing that women involved in fish processing earn 25% less than their male counterparts, lack decision-making power in family matters, and experience violence. Despite their contributions, women's roles in the fishing sector remain unrecognized. Saleha Islam Shantona, a leader in the garment workers' sector, advocates for women's rights in the fisheries industry. The study calls for policy changes to recognize and involve women's participation in fisheries programs, ensure their inclusion in decision-making, and address discrimination. By highlighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and promoting gender equality, the study aligns with climate justice principles and emphasizes the need for inclusive and sustainable solutions. Photo Credit: N/A  

1 10, 2020

‘Dramatic’ Global Rise In Laws Defending Rights Of Nature

2023-02-06T00:21:26-05:00Tags: |

Carey Biron overviews the recent global spike in legislation that has ruled in favor of the rights of nature. Rights of Nature laws – which provide citizens the opportunity to sue on behalf of damaged lands and waters – have become more common over the last decade, and ecosystems and waterways have won protection under the law in at least 14 countries. These cases set an important precedent for other nations that are in the process of establishing their own legal frameworks to accommodate rights of nature principles, especially following the United Nations’ first biodiversity summit, where more than 60 leaders signed a Pledge for Nature. The UN’s goal is to protect 30 percent of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030 by cracking down on major environmental issues like pollution and deforestation.

21 08, 2020

Meet Women Environmentalists Exploring New Ways to Protect Qiandao Lake in E China

2023-03-19T07:49:19-04:00Tags: |

Mu Quan is an environmentalist in eastern China who has devoted her work to protecting what is locally known as “the most beautiful lake in the world” or Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang province. After seeing the detrimental impacts of fertilizers and pesticides from the area’s prominent tea and farming community, she sought balanced solutions to protect the lake while also benefiting the local economy. Quan founded the Qiandao Lake Water Fund which now consists of a five member all female leadership team supporting pilot projects that promote sustainable agriculture and environmental education. Their ecological rice field pilot project has gained praise for decreasing nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the soil while also improving irrigation, tea quality, and increasing farmers’ income. Photo credit: cnr.cn/Wang Haipeng  

10 07, 2020

Water Protectors Celebrate As Dakota Access Pipeline Ordered To Shut Down

2020-10-10T19:55:28-04:00Tags: |

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, an elder of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder of Sacred Stone Camp and Tara Houska, Ojibwe lawyer and founder of the Giniw Collective are interviewed by reporter Amy Goodman after the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is ordered to shut down by August 5, 2020. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard has opened her home in North Dakota to supporters from the beginning of the resistance in order to protect sacred sites, water sources, and the health of her community members. She has joined forces with Indigenous leaders and water protectors from around the world, many of whom have faced similar harms from extractive industry. Tara Houska asserts that the shutdown of this massive pipeline sends a critical message to the fossil fuel industry that these dangerous projects will not be tolerated and that a regenerative green economy is non-negotiable. Photo credit: Democracy Now! (video screenshot)

14 04, 2020

Female-led, Island-based Solutions To Climate Change

2020-12-02T21:46:27-05:00Tags: |

Women in different Small Island Development States are taking action to prevent and tackle the impacts of climate change and the resultant vulnerability to natural disasters on their coast. Since most of them depend on the incomes from agriculture and fishery, they are leading community-based initiatives associated primarily with securing water supply and coastline protection, as well as environmental education and social support. Photo credit: Manuth Buth/UNDP Cambodia

21 12, 2018

Overfishing Threatens Malawi’s Blue Economy

2020-10-05T17:08:23-04:00Tags: |

Despite once providing bustling profits for fishing families, Lake Malawi — one of Africa’s largest lakes — suffers from overfishing and women in Malawi are feeling the brunt of this. The fishing industry employs close to 300,000 Malawi workers and fishers, but fish are no longer being found in abundance. Stiff competition from fishermen is drastically depleting fish levels. The fish that are now being found are smaller and priced higher, reducing the profitability of a market that used to flourish in the past. Women who used to buy fish cheaply and trade it for more, are then forced to buy from fishermen, who have also been pushed out of business, at increased prices. Moreover, they are no longer able to provide local fish as a cheap protein to their families because overfishing has left women under tight restraint. Thankfully successful community efforts have been rallied around creating bylaws that would close down the lake for a temporary amount of time to promote lake health. And it appears these laws put in place were working — a man was hit with a hefty fine for fishing on the lake when it was close. Photo credit: Mabvuto Banda

20 10, 2018

The Bearded Seal My Son May Never Hunt

2020-11-07T18:07:29-05:00Tags: |

The author Laureli Ivanoff is an Inupiat, a northern indigenous population with communities from Alaska to Greenland. She reflects on the future of her people who now have to learn to live without the cold: last winter there was less ice in the Bering Sea that any winter since the 1850 when record-keeping started. The Inupiat need the northeastern Bering Sea to stay cold so that the creatures they traditionally rely on can thrive. She particularly thinks about her newly born son Inuqtaq, to whom hunting was going to be an act of intentional decolonization, a way of keeping alive a custom that’s become sacred and of staying connected to his heritage and identity. As she hurts for him and for her family, Laureli hopes the world quickly adapts and also respects the earth as they have for millennia. Photo credit: Ash Adams/The New York Times

15 10, 2018

A Water Walk In New York City

2020-10-07T00:43:14-04:00Tags: |

During the month of July, women and men, engaging in a “water walk,” walked two miles through the streets of New York City carrying empty buckets. Two miles is about the length women and girls walk in developing countries each day to obtain water, so this walk was carried out in order to symbolize their hard work. Moreover, the walk ended at the United Nations Building, so it was intended to remind policy makers about the importance of clean water as well as urge them to consider water a human right. The walk also called attention to the fact that access to water is important but if distance, cost, or other factors make that access prohibitive, then simple “access” is not enough. Photo credit: Water Aid

12 10, 2018

Across Mozambique and Tanzania, Women Show Us How To Improve Communities And Protect Our Planet

2018-10-12T17:11:52-04:00Tags: |

Women across Mozambique and Tanzania are organizing their communities to improve  local livelihood through sustainability and the protection of natural resources. This inspirational blog by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) explores  the stories of various community leaders building long lasting projects. Like the story of Alima Chereira, who formed an agricultural association that teaches women climate-resilient farming practices. Or entrepreneur Fatima Apacur,  who helped her community form a savings association that uses the ancient practice of group savings and pooling wealth to help community members invest in the future. Photo Credit: WWF/ James Morgan

16 08, 2018

IPN Students Turn Polluted Water Into Fuel

2020-04-24T15:55:14-04:00Tags: |

Two female chemical engineer students developed a prototype that converts polluted water into clean energy through a purifier and an electrolyzer. Jeimmie Gabriela Espino Ramírez and Lisset Dayanira Neri Pérez, at the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico, are the creators of this device they named Gimfi, which in the Otomi language means “dirty water”. The students designed Gimfi to be both portable or nonportable in order to provide clean fuel for stoves and ovens in marginalized areas. The filter is made of natural elements like cotton, sand, volcanic rock, gravel, marble and charcoal. The hydrogen generated is currently produced with electricity but they plan on adapting it to solar panels, which would make Gimfi even more sustainable. Photo credit: Serg Velusceac/El Universal

13 07, 2018

“We Are Not Small Islands. We Are A Vast Oceanscape.”

2018-07-13T16:49:35-04:00Tags: |

In this interview, Maureen Penjueli of the Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG), shares the group’s efforts to protect the land and ocean sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples in the Pacific region. Free trade deals and foreign investments that open channels for seabed mining and extractive industries threaten customary land tenure systems and disregard Indigenous ways of knowing. PANG helps Pacific people achieve economic self-determination by educating them about policy levers such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples or Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to fight exploitation and put pressure on government leaders. Photo credit: Rucha Chitnis

25 05, 2018

Navajo Women Struggle To Preserve Traditions As Climate Change Intensifies

2018-12-19T17:33:57-05:00Tags: |

Lorraine Herder belongs to a shepherd family: she grew up raising sheep and using its wool in a remote area on the Navajo reservation. But now, shrinking water reservoirs due to climate change are making it difficult to keep this tradition alive. Dr. Margaret Redsteer, a scientist at the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, notes that the amount of groundwater has decreased drastically over the past century, putting a strain on the animals’ health and the Navajo way of life. The water crisis is also caused by other factors like coal mining, according to Nicole Horseherder, founder of non- profit organization “Scared Water Speaks”.  Photo Credit: Sonia Narang/PRI

21 05, 2018

Warming Waters Hurt Zanzibar’s Seaweed. But Women Farmers Have A Plan

2021-02-16T20:51:24-05:00Tags: |

Seaweed farming in Zanzibar, an archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, is largely done by local women farmers. Most of the men find the work too hard for the small pay, but the income remains significant to women. As a result of their engagement in industry, women farmers and their family have significantly benefited. However, the Western Indian Ocean’s temperature is rising, which is leading to loss of the seaweed crop. The women farmers are responding to this adversity in various ways. One solution has been to farm farther in the ocean. This solution requires the participation of at least some strong swimmers, but seeing as most women in Zanzibar do not know how to swim, many of the farmers are having to learn to swim as they go. Another solution the farmers have enacted is cooperating with local and international researchers. The hope is that fostering this dialogue will benefit both parties and that the seaweed industry will remain viable. Photo credit: Karen Coates

19 04, 2018

Delaware Riverkeeper Maya Van Rossum honored With ‘Woman Of The Delaware Watershed’ Award

2020-11-20T18:02:14-05:00Tags: |

Maya van Rossum, head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN), has been awarded with “Woman of the Delaware Watershed” in recognition for her work protecting the environment. During her time as leader of DRN, the organization advocated for rivers and their associated communities, ensured adherence to environmental law, as well as restored particular streams. A current major goal of van Rossum is the constitutional recognition of environmental rights to the extent that other rights, such as free speech, are given constitutional recognition. To that end, van Rossum was a lead petitioner in the environmental rights case “Robinson Township, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, et al vs Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” Photo credit: Bucks Local News

13 04, 2018

Women In Brasil Defending Our Sacred Waters- Stories From The Alternative World Water Forum (FAMA)

2018-08-02T15:16:41-04:00Tags: |

The author speaks about their experiences attending and speaking at the 2018 World Water Forum (FAMA) in Brazil. An event largely sponsored by Nestle and Coca-Cola, corporations pushing to privatize and control public water resources. Fearless indigenous women and activists used the event as platform to call-out and share their powerful stories of resistance. Their message to the world: water cannot be treated as a privately owned commodity; water is a human right and a common good of and for the people.  Photo Credit: Guilherme Cavalli/Cimi

3 04, 2018

A More Just Migration: Empowering Women On The Front Lines Of Climate Displacement

2020-09-02T21:07:22-04:00Tags: |

Migration is one way women may be forced to adapt to climate change, but this displacement also puts women at greater risk for violence, a group of women leaders explained at a Wilson Center event. Eleanor Bornstorm, Program Director for the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), noted that because women are often in caretaking roles, they are also expected to volunteer and shield their communities from harm. Yet structural inequalities put women disproportionately at risk to violence during climate displacement. Carrying forward the former statement, Justine Calma, Grist environmental justice reporting fellow, vocalized the violence faced by women and young girls during climate displacement. For example, during the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, young girls were sexually exploited, sold and trafficked for food and other resources. Poor or uneducated women, women of color and migrant women are vulnerable to intersectional forms of discrimination, and their needs are often more urgent. Because of these structural inequalities, empowering women and enhancing their leadership may be the best strategy to address climate change, rather than mitigating its effects. WEDO is assessing factors impacting women during climate displacement, filling in the gaps unaddressed at the national and international level. Photo Credit: Agata Grzybowska.

28 03, 2018

Women Occupied Coca-Cola & Nestlé Factories

2018-07-13T15:50:14-04:00Tags: |

Over 600 Brazilian women activists are protesting the privatization of water by corporate entities and the federal government by occupying local Coca-Cola and Nestlé factories. As part of the Rural Landless Movement (MST), these women hope that disrupting operations will convey that “water is a right, not a claim.” Photo credit: TeleSUR English

23 03, 2018

Meet The Women Growing The California Seaweed Economy

2020-10-10T20:11:50-04:00Tags: |

Salt Point Seaweed is an all-female Bay Area company that is leading the way for global food insecurity solutions. Tessa Emmer, Catherine O’Hare and Avery Resor are harvesting wild seaweed from an open-water farm off the coast of Mendocino County. Having drawn inspiration from East African communities, particularly female aqua-farming in Zanzibar, this company hopes to popularize local varieties of seaweed (such as Gracilaria) in Northern California’s avant-garde, health-centered culinary scene. Seaweed’s ability to de-acidify waters coupled with virtually zero inputs required for growth, it’s numerous health benefits and budding potential to substitute for fossil fuels, as well as massive potential in contributing to increasing the world’s food supply mean that it is a global solution in the fight against climate change, ocean acidification, and unsustainable food systems. Photo credit: Salt Point Seaweed.

3 03, 2018

This Badass Woman Explores The Deep Sea To Help Us Save It

2018-07-13T17:30:19-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Samantha Joye is a marine biologist at the University of Georgia dedicated to exploring and protecting the deep sea ecosystem. After witnessing the environmental damage of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, she is working on Our Blue Planet initiative with BBC Earth and OceanX Media to inspire social media engagement and increased understanding of the ocean environment. Dr. Joye’s work is especially urgent as federal proposals for offshore drilling risk additional oil spills and negative ocean population impacts. Photo credit: OceanX Media

13 02, 2018

Cord Blood, Blood And Hair Tests Show Mercury Exposure In Grassy Narrows

2020-10-05T20:34:41-04:00Tags: |

Decades after a paper mill in Northern Ontario dumped 10 ton of mercury into an Ontario river, residents of Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) First Nation are only beginning to get answers. From 1970 to 1992, Health Canada collected umbilical blood and hair samples from the communities that were potentially exposed to the harmful substance. The results, however, have remained closed in boxes until only recently. Now, residents such as Chrissy Swain and Alana Pahpasy are finally getting the results, only to find out that they’ve been living with dangerously high mercury levels for years. Despite the fact that a Mercury Disability Board was set up, it has been criticized as inadequate and has turned the majority of applicants away. It is suspected that the high levels are now impacting the next generation of these communities. The health impacts of mercury poisoning include heart problems, learning disabilities, and motor skills deficits. Women and other members of the community are speaking out against the government, outraged at this wrongful neglect. Photo credit: David Sone/Earthroots

20 01, 2018

Climate Change Eroding Women’s Status in Zanzibar

2018-03-02T20:05:14-05:00Tags: |

Women seaweed farms on Zanzibar’s coast are at the frontlines of climate change, as warming sea temperatures are causing massive die offs, and rural women are losing their main source of income. While most other jobs in this community are male dominated, seaweed farming is predominately female, with more than 80 percent of seaweed farmers being women. With the production of the major seaweed species Cottonnii down by nearly 94%, the financial independence and social status seaweed farming has provided women has been threatened. To defy these odds, Dr. Flower Msuya has, with the help of local women farmers, pioneered a new technology to adapt the shallow farming technique to deeper waters. Photo credit: Haley Joelle Ott

17 01, 2018

Can Poetry Turn The Tide On Climate Change?

2020-10-10T19:15:39-04:00Tags: |

Marshallese poet and activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner uses the power of poetry to humanize the climate crisis faced by Pacific nations and demand swift global action. Her spoken word performance of Dear Matafele Peinem at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit was an impassioned call to action to ensure a safe, vibrant earth and rich cultural heritage for future generations. Her poem was met with acclaim and helped to convey the threat of rising sea levels and more frequent flooding to her home nation. She continues to advocate through her art as well as her work with Jo-Jikum, a nonprofit educating and empowering Marshallese youth on climate change. Photo Credit: The Adelaide Review

12 01, 2018

Protecting The Waterways Of The Navajo Nation

2018-02-06T15:13:09-05:00Tags: |

The video series ‘Breakthrough: Portraits of Women in Science’, profiles Karletta Chief, Chief Hydrologist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Indigenous woman of the Diné (Navajo) Bitter Water Clan. For many years, Karletta has been leading out work to study the quality and properties of water on the Navajo Nation, an arid region which is home to over 250,000 resident spread across sections of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The land has been desecrated for decades by coal and uranium mining, as well as the oil and gas industry. In August 2015, the Gold King Mine spill dumped millions of tons of toxic waste water into local river systems, contaminating the Animas River which is a vital source of life and livelihoods across the region. Karletta is working ceaselessly with the community to address the many issues faced due to this latest toxic water threat. Photo credit: Science Friday

17 11, 2017

Four Reasons Water And Sanitation Are A Gender Issue

2018-07-13T15:44:39-04:00Tags: |

Globally, women and girls are disproportionately impacted by poor access to safe clean water and adequate sanitary conditions. They are often responsible for collecting water for their household daily and at far distances, which significantly limits their productivity and time for schooling. Even when they do have time to attend school or work, a lack of private washrooms and clean water make it difficult to maintain hygiene during menstruation, meaning they instead stay home or drop out. Women and girls are also at increased risk of violence during their long travels for water and when using open toilets. Because they are likely tasked with cleaning children and household toilets, they are more exposed to wastewater and potential pathogens. Because of this intersection with gender, women and girls must lead and be engaged in strategies for improving water and sanitation. Photo credit: Asian Development Bank

13 11, 2017

Maldives Mangroves Forest To Be Converted To Airport

2017-12-13T12:52:18-05:00Tags: |

Women leaders of Uthema and Voice of Women speak out about plans to build an airport on Kulhudhuhfushi island in the northern region of the Maldives, which is made of over 1200 natural coral islands. The vital mangrove wetlands of Kulhudhuhfushi are some of the countries most important and biodiverse, and the airport development there threatens massive destruction of ecosystems which are the source of local economy, culture, traditions, food, environmental protection, and much more. The article and accompanying video note a particular impact on women who work work the wetlands for their livelihoods, and the inequities of an airport for just some people displacing a place of local support for countless. Photo credit: SixDegrees News

26 10, 2017

This 13-Year-Old Indigenous Girl Has Been Nominated For A Global Peace Prize

2017-10-26T22:36:54-04:00Tags: |

Autumn Peltier, a 13-year-old Anishinaabe girl who has been advocating for clean drinking water, is a nominee for the International Children’s Peace Prize. The International Children's Peace Prize is awarded to a child who has worked to improve children’s lives. Peltier has been recognized internationally for her work and is already considered as a water protector. Photo credit: Twitter@PerryBellegarde‏

28 09, 2017

Michelle Bender: We Need Rights Of Nature Legislation Now To Protect Our Planet

2017-10-28T23:15:59-04:00Tags: |

Michelle Bender, Ocean Rights Manager at the Earth Law Center writes on the importance of the oceans - which cover over seventy percent of our planet, regulates climate and provides food and jobs for hundreds of millions of people. Current changes to its systems have generated concerns for the future. Despite international laws and agreements designed for its protection, the health of our oceans is at risk. This is because current ocean law and policy largely focus on the impacts to humans, rather than the impacts on natural ecosystems. Implementing Rights of Nature legislation allows for such a basis, by recognizing that rights originate from existence and that humans are a part of the Earth, not above it. By adopting the Rights of Nature, and in this case the ocean, we ensure that our activities do not violate the oceans’ rights to life, to health, to be free of pollution and to continue its vital cycles. It is a vital step to not only ensure that we restore the health of the ocean, but protect our future. Photo credit: The Ecologist

26 09, 2017

Native Youth “Paddle to Protect” Minnesota’s Water from Another Enbridge Pipeline

2017-10-31T15:24:47-04:00Tags: |

Young women such as Rose Whipple and Valyncia Sparvier are on the forefront of action by Indigenous youth in the Great Lakes region to oppose the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline through a 250 mile “Paddle to Protect” action held over Summer 2017. The proposed project threatens water quality, Indigenous rights, and vital ancestral food producing regions - prompting the youth to take to their local waterways to draw public attention to the dangers of the project on the land, water and their future. Honor the Earth, a Minnesota-based Indigenous rights group directed by Ojibwe woman leader, Winona LaDuke, had been central to support of the youth involved in the paddle and continued advocacy. Photo credit: John Collins

30 08, 2017

In Thailand, Unmet Transparency Laws Impede Poor Communities’ Struggle For Environmental Justice

2017-10-18T11:13:43-04:00Tags: |

In Map Ta Phut, Thailand, residents Nangsao Witlawan and Kanis Phonnawin are fighting pollution from over 140 industrial facilities, which have resulted in toxic water and severe health risks, including blood cancer and birth defects, often leading to death. Witlawan has been acutely affected as a former worker at a local oil refinery and suffers from stage four cervical cancer. Both women are pushing for access to information on the region’s water and government response to these serious health and environmental impacts. Photo credit: Laura Villadiego

30 08, 2017

Maria Nailevu, Pacific Climate Justice Activist

2017-10-30T02:51:11-04:00Tags: |

Growing up with recurrent natural disasters, sea level rise and flooding, Maria Nailevu experienced the impacts of climate change from a very early age. Today, she is working with Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality to promote social, economic and ecological justice woman to advocate for women human rights and climate action at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties conferences. Nailevu is also working to free her home of plastics with the Pacific Urgent Action Hub for Climate Justice and creating safe spaces where women can come together to share knowledge, stories and strategies for a gender-just society. Photo credit: DIVA4Equality

26 08, 2017

Nigeria: Using Gender Mainstreaming Processes To Help Protect Drinking Water Sources Of The Obudu Plateau Communities In Northern Cross River State

2017-08-26T14:18:03-04:00Tags: |

This case study focuses on the Obudu Plateau, one of the two main mountain ecosystems of Nigeria and is primarily home to the Becheve agricultural communities and the Fulani pastoralists. In the last two decades the area has witnessed increased commercial development mostly in tourism has seen increased deforestation and a deterioration of the water situation. In order to begin to remedy the situation, a multi-stakeholder management committee was constituted to deal with the issues with participatory processes being put in place to systematically involve women in the work as well as carefully analyze the specific ways in which destruction of the ecosystem was affecting women.

26 08, 2017

Commentary: Dams Are A Women’s Issue

2017-10-31T15:23:47-04:00Tags: |

Monti Aguirre, the Latin America Program Coordinator at International Rivers and a tireless supporter of people impacted by the Chixoy Dam in Guatemala, shares stories about the inspirational women she has met during her career fighting against mega-dams. For example, Nicolasa Quintreman, a Pehuenche Indigenous woman from Chile, fought for years against the Ralco Dam (backed by energy giant Endesa) and still stands strong even after being forced to relocate. Lupita Lara led her community’s resistance to the Arcediano Dam near Guadalajara City, Mexico with steadfast resolve. Due to women’s integral role as community leaders, organizations like Asprocig, the organization of downstream communities affected by the Urra Dam in Colombia, have found that elevating women in post-relocation trauma recovery programs has far-reaching impacts.

26 08, 2017

Equality In Dissent

2017-08-26T12:53:11-04:00Tags: |

When the state government of Uttarakhand proposed construction of the Desvari dam, a 252-megawatt hydropower project on the Pinder River, residents of Chepdu village were worried: blasting through rock in an already flood-prone seismic zone would put the lives and livelihoods of 20,000 people at risk. While some men in the community obtained contract work from the construction company, making them partisan to the project, women like Bilma Joshi stood strong, organizing their community to demand their statutory rights and oppose a project that would all but destroy the Pinder River. Photo Credit: Matu Jan Sanghathan

26 08, 2017

Where Are Women’s Voices In Uganda’s Dam Planning?

2017-08-26T12:26:43-04:00Tags: |

Betty Obbo of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists writes about how top-down hydroelectric dam projects, such as the Bujagali dam in Uganda, displace vulnerable communities and create more problems than they solve for local women. One such woman is Rukia Kauma, now living in Naminya resettlement village, who explains how the lack of basic amenities, roads, schools and fertile soil in her new home impact her daily life as her family’s principal breadwinner. She now walks hours a day to fetch water and firewood in the forest, which often exposes her to the risk of sexual violence. The Ugandan government, African Development Bank and the World Bank did not adequately consult women when designing the dam project, further reinforcing patriarchal relations around their access and control over land and water sources, and the continued lack of social services provision to displaced people is staggering. The National Association of Professional Environmentalists is teaming up with community members to fight these and other dams. Photo credit: World Bank

26 08, 2017

Mainstreaming Gender In Water Resource Management

2017-08-26T11:18:30-04:00Tags: |

Joke Muylwijk, executive director of the Gender and Water Alliance, explains the importance of mainstreaming gender in all levels of water resource management, from international policy-making to local governance. The Gender and Water Alliance brings member networks together to bridge the gap between decision-makers and water users so that the deep knowledge and experiences of women, Indigenous people, small-holder farmers and fisherfolk are centered in policy solutions. Water is life! is a slogan found in many communities the world over, and water remains one of the most important sites of ‘material contestation’ worldwide. Photo Credit: Gender and Water Alliance

25 08, 2017

Las Mujeres Somos Agua (Women Are Water)

2017-10-25T22:43:23-04:00Tags: |

In Latin America, where 37 million people suffer from water insecurity, grassroots women are taking initiative against government inaction and industrial pollution to gain access to clean drinking water. In Pirané, Argentina, Nelly Alcaraz, Candida Fernández, and Analía Alcaraz of Equipo de Mujeres del Movimiento Campesino de Formosa are fighting water quality issues and toxic health impacts from agrochemical spraying. In Yacuíba, Bolivia, Julia Suárez, Modesta Medina Romero, and Aquilina Pereyra of Asamblea del Pueblo Guaraní de Yaku-Igua represent the Guarani people against the environmental destruction caused by the Gran Chaco Liquid Segregation Plant. Lina López of Organización de Mujeres Mismo Indígena and Enriqueta Chávez of Organización de Mujeres Guaraní de Macharety support a coalition of over 400 women across Presidente Hayes and Boquerón in Paraguay, where severe droughts and flooding have led to crop loss, tuberculosis, and poor standards of living. Photo credit: Fondo de Mujeres Del Sur

17 08, 2017

Photo Essay: Inside The Munduruku Occupation Of Sao Manoel Dam

2017-08-26T12:48:25-04:00Tags: |

Munduruku women warriors led 200 representatives of their Indigenous nation to occupy the main work camp of the Sao Manoel hydroelectric dam, under construction on the Teles Pires River in the Brazilian Amazon. This occupation paralyzed the project as the Munduruku people demanded a complete stop to the project, their right to be consulted and for the respect of their culture, spirituality and ecosystems. This beautiful, gripping photo essay of the occupation captures the powerful women warriors of Munduruku defiantly leading their community to protect the sacred. Photo credit: Caio Mota/Centro Popular do Audiovisual/Forum Teles Pires.

7 08, 2017

Rising Seas Are Flooding Bangladeshi Farms With Salt Water

2017-09-03T21:05:29-04:00Tags: |

Island farmers in the Bay of Bengal, particularly women, such as Shondha Rnai and Rokya Begum, express concerns over their farmlands. Their farms are threatened by rising sea levels, lack of freshwater, and saltwater intrusion from neighboring shrimp farms. The water crisis is resulting in loss of agricultural productivity, conversion of rice paddies to shrimp farms and most importantly, forced migration. Photo credit: Eduardo Garcia Gil

4 08, 2017

Running The Salmon Home: Lifeways And Waters Of The Winnemem Wintu

2017-09-03T21:03:41-04:00Tags: |

The Winnemen Wintu, also known as the Middle Water People, can be found along the McCloud River in Northern California. Winnimen Wintu legend has it that their ancestors gained the ability to speak from Salmon, in exchange for eternal protection from external threats. Chief Caleen Sisk is organizing a Run4Salmon, to generate public awareness for the need to replenish the Chinook Salmon stock, which is endangered by climate change and the construction of dams. Photo credit: Toby McLeod

3 08, 2017

The Connection Between Women And Water

2017-09-03T21:07:29-04:00Tags: |

This article conveys the inspirational story of how one project, Water Bearers, initiated and led by women, is connecting both men and women around the same element that is the source of life for us all: water. Water Bearers strives to motivate women fortunate enough to have access to clean water to train the less fortunate, such as the Kichwa people of Yasuni National Park. Photo credit: Uplift

3 08, 2017

Saluting Women Water Warriors

2017-08-26T12:38:38-04:00Tags: |

When it comes to decision-making around water resources, women are seldom at the table - but Latha Anantha (India), Betty Obbo (Uganda) and Pai Detees (Thailand) are working to change that. Anantha leads the River Research Center, mapping ecosystems and educating children to protect biodiversity in regions like the Western Ghats. Obbo of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists succeeded in delaying the construction of the Bujagali Dam for 18 years, and is researching how to help impacted communities file grievances when their rights are violated. Pai Detees, of International Rivers, helped pioneer community research methodologies at the South East Asia Rivers Network, amplifying the voices of women water users into national and international policy. These three stories weave together the beauty and possibilities of women’s advocacy, resistance and leadership for water justice. Photo credit: Glenn Switkes

1 08, 2017

Native American Women Begin Walk Along The Missouri River

2017-09-03T21:01:43-04:00Tags: |

Women from different natives tribes are gathering at Three Forks, Montana to begin their month and a half walking journey along the Missouri River. Among the walkers are Lori Watos of the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota, Roxanne Ornelas, a Geography professor at the University of Miami, Ohio, and Sharon Day, executive director of the Indigenous People’s Task Force and leader of the walk. The walk is scheduled as a tribute to our most precious natural resource, water, which is under various threats from oil and gas production to agricultural run-offs. The aim is to understand and nurture human connection with water. Photo credit: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

21 07, 2017

Water Walk For Life

2017-09-03T20:48:02-04:00Tags: |

Jun Yasuda, a Buddhist Nun and internationally renowned environmental activist, walked 170 miles in the “Water Walk for Life” to protest the Parallel Pilgrims pipeline. The pipeline is expected to cross 235 regulated streams in New York and two drinking water aquifers in New Jersey. If constructed, the pipeline would disrupt and destroy wildlife habitats and imperil clean water sources for about 100,000 residents. Photo credit: wamc.org

10 07, 2017

Struggle For Water And Sovereignty

2017-09-03T20:50:39-04:00Tags: |

In this emotional video, Temryss Xeli'tia Lane of the Golden Eagle Clan, Lummi Nation, speaks about protecting her people’s waters, the main source of their livelihood, from TransCanada’s pipeline projects and other threats. She speaks about how the water is their land, and without fishing, her culture and ancestry are endangered. Photo credit: Desk Gram

8 07, 2017

Waste Water Is A She

2017-09-21T16:22:07-04:00Tags: |

Key players in the global climate change debate often reduce water to a gender-neutral status. However, if one digs deeper one finds that there is an intrinsic link between women and daily water management, and it is women that are most impacted by lack of wastewater treatment. UNESCO’s World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) and the gender task force propose indicators disaggregated by sex to analyze the wastewater treatment gender gap.

20 06, 2017

Mom Detective: Here’s An Innovative Solution To Microfiber Pollution

2017-10-16T18:34:00-04:00Tags: |

Rachael Miller founded the Rosalie Project, an initiative which has designed the Cora Ball to collect harmful microfibers from clothes washers before they enter our waterways. Miller speaks about how her ocean nonprofit is working to clean up marine debris and tackle the problem at its source, designing a 100% recycled soft plastic device that was inspired by the natural filtering functions of coral. Photo credit: Moms Clean Air Force

16 06, 2017

Bringing Clean Water To Kids In Uganda

2017-09-03T20:55:15-04:00Tags: |

When the lack of access to clean drinking water was adversely impacting the health of children in the village of Gomba, two women came to the rescue. Godliver Businge and Comfort Harja, of the Uganda Women’s Water Initiative, started a project that installed water purification systems in schools and trained local women to build their own biosand filters, which in return increased school attendance rates and decreased medical expenses. The project has also helped women, such as Betty Birungi, build their confidence and run for offices. Photo credit: Joel Lukhovi/Survival Media Agency

8 06, 2017

Women Ocean Leaders Of Samoa: Anama Solofa

2017-08-26T15:48:32-04:00Tags: |

Anama Solofa represents the growing number of Pacific Island women making waves in both our oceans and in policy spaces dedicated to championing the sustainable and equitable use of this precious natural resource under threat. A Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship program recipient, Anama is studying for her Master’s degree in Marine Policy. Having worked at Samoa’s Ministry of Fisheries in and at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (S.P.R.E.P.), she is a fierce advocate for ocean conservation. Solofa also knows first-hand the difficulties in working in policy, a male-dominated field, in addition to the inter-generational issues that young women working in the field face. Photo credit: Samoa Observer

6 06, 2017

Women Ocean Leaders Of Samoa: Tuifuisa’a Amosa

2017-08-26T15:51:57-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Tuifasa’a Aimosa is an oceanographer and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the National University of Samoa. Her academic research primarily explores ocean acidification and its impacts on marine life. She credits her interest in science to excellent teachers, even as she often found herself in her post-grad years as the only female student from the Pacific Islands studying marine science and oceanography. Dr. Tuifuisa’a is cognizant of the fact that hers is a male-dominated field, using her role as Dean to mentor young female students in the field, and hopes for more support networks for female scientists.Photo credit: Samoa Observer

5 06, 2017

In Photos: Women Of Seychelles Lead Efforts Towards Healthy Oceans

2017-10-17T19:49:01-04:00Tags: |

Women are leading the charge for the conservation and sustainable use of ocean resources in the Indian Ocean Rim region. Sylvanna Antat, Marine Research Officer with the Seychelles National Parks Authority, is leading the charge to map coral reefs around Mahe Island, organisms that promote biodiversity and help mitigate coastal erosion. Michelle Martin, Executive Director of Sustainability for Seychelles, and Karine Rassool, Senior Economist for the Seychelles Fishing Authority, fought for a ban on plastic bags and Styrofoam containers. Their efforts were supported by long-time resident and fruit seller Mana Celestine, who hasn’t used plastic bags in 15 years, to preserve the health of her home. In science, Senior Laboratory Technician Julie Matatiken analyzes the health of tuna for the Port of Victoria, while in education, Christel Jacques educates young people about environmental conservation through the Wildlife Club. Women’s leadership is crucial to preserving and protecting marine ecosystems and the people that depend upon ocean resources. Photo credit: UN Women

5 06, 2017

Women Ocean Leaders: Captain Fealofani

2017-08-26T15:54:48-04:00Tags: |

Fealofani Bruun is making history as captain of a Gaualofa, a traditional Samoan double-hull voyaging canoe. She trains crew members and steers the canoe, whose voyages have not been seen in Samoa for over 100 years. For Samoans, the traditional voyaging canoe holds a lot of knowledge about not only navigation, the ocean and the stars, but also traditional Samoan culture and values. For Fealofani, this cultural revival has opened her up to the ways in which equality and equity are embedded within the ‘canoe culture’, as well as how to use traditional Samoan knowledge to protect the oceans in the face of climate change. She calls for the recruitment of more young girls and women to the fight. Photo credit: Charles Netzler

31 05, 2017

[H2opeful Women] GWWI East Africa Training Team Take On The World!

2017-10-31T22:51:26-04:00Tags: |

Godliver Businge, Comfort Mukasa and Rose Wamalwa are leaders in the Global Women's Water Initiative's training program. Because of their work implementing clean water systems in their communities, they have been crucial mentors to newer participants in the program and have shared their experience around the world. For example, Businge has spoken to audiences at Stanford University and the African Food and Peace Foundation about her pioneering work in renewable sanitation technology implementation in her community. Photo credit: Global Women's Water Initiative

31 05, 2017

Inuit Mother Jailed After Protesting Dam At Muskrat Falls

2017-09-03T20:39:00-04:00Tags: |

Beatrice Hunter is many things at once: mother, grandmother and unapologetic land protector from the Indigenous Inuit community of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Canada. Last fall, Hunter joined dozens of local land protectors in occupying the construction site of a highly controversial dam on Muskrat Falls, which holds immense cultural, economic and spiritual value for her people. Hunter now faces one criminal charge and two civil charges, and has defiantly refused to stay away from the Falls despite law enforcement's demands. In speaking out about the series of events, Hunter emphasizes that her people’s identities and livelihoods are deeply interconnected with the Falls, as well as the injustice of continued exploitation by settler-colonialism. Photo credit: Facebook

17 05, 2017

Jordan’s Water Wise Women

2017-10-25T22:38:42-04:00Tags: |

In Jordan, women are taking center stage in combating the country’s severe drought crisis through plumbing skills training and water conservation education. Plumbers Isra Ababneh and Safaa Sukkariah are among the 3,000 women empowered by the Water Wise Women Initiative, which teaches water-saving techniques to fix faulty pipes and improve water management. UNICEF/ACTED representative Eshraq Mashaqbeh also encourages water security by teaching Syrian refugees in Jordan how to save water. Photo credit: Aljazeera

11 05, 2017

In Vietnam, Women Are Leading Disaster Prevention And Response

2017-08-26T13:45:09-04:00Tags: |

When the Kien Giang river flooded, the damage to the community of My Thuy was minimal due to women’s leadership. The Viet Nam Women’s Union and UN Women are supporting women like Huong Duong, a local shopkeeper, to be disaster preparedness “communicators” in their towns, monitoring for floods and preparing their neighbors for the worst to reduce the risk of severe damage, injuries and even death. While women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters, their work on mitigating the impacts of these risks often goes unacknowledged. Photo credit: UN Women Viet Nam/Hoang Hiep

7 05, 2017

In 70 Days, 700 People Brought A Dead River Back To Life

2017-10-31T20:35:35-04:00Tags: |

The Kuttemperoor River in South Kerala’s Alappuzha district, formerly a vibrant and healthy ecosystem, was slowly destroyed over the years by illegal sand mining and the dumping of raw sewage. Recently, 700 local people, mostly women, took it upon themselves to restore the river by spending 70 days cleaning out the toxic waste of weeds, plastic and other pollutants. Bolstered by frequent drought that had put a huge strain on the available water sources and the slow action from the government, this group of earth defenders successfully revived their river. Photo credit: Vivek Nair

7 05, 2017

The Women Of Inga: A Portrait Of Resilience

2017-08-26T12:16:37-04:00Tags: |

The women of Inga grow nearly everything their community consumes, from the avocados, oranges and cassava that nourish their families to the medicinal herbs that heal their sick. However, the women have been living without access to electricity, schools, roads or hospitals for many years, despite the construction of hydroelectric dams on the nearby Inga Falls of the Congo River that ironically send power to people far away while bypassing those who care for the local river and forest. The women are now challenging the idea of top-down economic development based on massive infrastructure projects that evict local people and destroy local ecosystems, while plunging governments into debt. They are standing up and refusing to be disposable: their story shows the power of African women’s collective solidarity. Photo Credit: Ange Asanzi/International Rivers

4 05, 2017

Winnemen Wintu Chief: California WaterFix Fixes Nothing

2017-08-26T15:57:27-04:00Tags: |

California Governor Jerry Brown’s “Legacy Project,” the Delta Tunnels, promised to restore water security to a state plagued by drought and renew local ecosystems. However, Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual leader of the Winnemen Wintu tribe, is speaking out against this project, which she and many others in the community maintain will destroy the sensitive nursery for salmon, other fish species and all aquatic life. Chief Caleen’s resistance to this project is rooted in the traditional ecological knowledge of her people and centuries of resistance against destructive development projects. Photo credit: Dan Bacher

1 05, 2017

Kandi Mossett: Women Shouldn’t Die Protecting Water

2017-09-03T20:53:08-04:00Tags: |

Kandi Mossett, an indigenous activist and organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network and a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations spoke out about climate justice and access to water during the 2017 People’s Climate March. She and leader Tom Goldtooth are marching not only for her brothers and sisters in the north and the south, including Berta Cáceres, but also to defend the sacred from toxic fossil fuel projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline and threats to traditional ways of life. Photo credit: Democracy Now

25 04, 2017

Bangladesh’s Water Crisis: A Story Of Gender

2017-08-26T13:52:56-04:00Tags: |

In the last 35 years, Bangladesh has witnessed an increase in groundwater salinity by about 26%. Most activities related to water use and fetching are women’s work Bangladesh, and with water sources either drying up or becoming saline due to climate change, the already back-breaking work of looking for water by women continues to increase. Women and children on Bangladesh’s coast are increasingly contracting water-borne diseases, in addition to suffering from pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia and hypertension, resulting from higher levels of salty water intake. Khadija Rahman, who lives on Bangladesh’s southwest coast, tells her story. Photo credit: Neha Thirani Bagri

17 04, 2017

Kristal Ambrose Recruits Kids To Purge Plastics In The Bahamas

2017-09-21T16:41:16-04:00Tags: |

An expedition to the Marshall Islands with the 5 Gyres Institute to free the oceans of marine plastics served as sparkplug for 27-year-old scientist Kristal Ambrose of the island of Eluethera in the Bahamas. Upon her return, she began hiring local students for beach cleanups, and thus the Bahamas Plastic Movement was born. She now successfully runs a 5-day youth summer camp, training and educating the younger generation on plastic pollution and trawling for plastic waste on the island. Photo credit: Elyse Butler

28 03, 2017

Report: No Longer A Life Worth Living

2017-09-21T18:01:04-04:00Tags: |

A team of ten women researchers from the drought-stricken and mining-impacted communities of Somkhele and Fuleni launched the No Longer a Life Worth Living report as part of the Women Building Power initiative. The report emphasizes the impact of drought and subsequent water scarcity, as well as the impact on families and communities of Tendele Mine’s activities related to water access and water pollution. The researchers highlight the failures of the local municipality to address the water challenges faced by these communities and call on the government to revoke water licensing for coal mines in the area. Photo credit: WoMin

22 03, 2017

Fetching Water Is A Woman’s Responsibility In This Arid Rajasthan Village

2017-09-03T20:59:35-04:00Tags: |

Women from the hamlet of Khadero ki Dhani in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert travel up to a kilometer several times a day to draw water from the only water-yielding “beri,” or traditional well in the village. The long dry seasons and water scarcity has trained these women to manage the water sustainably. The women of the region are taking action every day to ensure their precious resource is not abused, such as not taking showers for periods or feeding less water to the animals. Photo credit: Raj Kumar Singh

22 03, 2017

World Water Day: Women Water Protectors Working For Water Sustainability

2017-10-18T11:34:56-04:00Tags: |

Indigenous women such as Yoryanis Isabel Bernal Varela, a member of the Wiwa Indigenous People of Sierra Nevada in South America, have sacrificed their lives promoting water sustainability. It is only appropriate that on World Water Day, the United Nations recognizes the efforts of Indigenous women in protecting water and to condemn violence against Indigenous peoples. It is important to not waste water, but it is also equally important not to discount the women contributing to water sustainability. Photo credit: Feminist Task Force

20 03, 2017

Songs Of Fetching Water

2017-09-03T20:46:19-04:00Tags: |

In the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh, India, the Dheemar people sing many songs that center around women going to fetch water from a well. For these women, singing while simultaneously fetching water empowers the collective feminine voice. Songs of fetching water are metaphors for following one’s inner voice or rising above conventional morality. The powerful imagery of women collecting water from wells is often highlighted in Indian mythology and devotional songs. Photo credit: Imran Zaib

13 03, 2017

Lead Scientist, Lizzie McLeod On Women, Gender Equality And Climate Change

2017-12-13T13:04:22-05:00Tags: |

Lizzie McLeod works with the Nature Conservancy as the Climate Adaptation Scientist for the Pacific Region. After many years as a coral reef scientist, as part of her work she now helps facilitate learning exchange for women across many Pacific Island Nations, to come together and share their climate change experiences and expertise and lessons learned. The aim is to combat the severe lack of women in environmental decision making bodies and climate science, by bringing together women of various walks of life in one platform for knowledge sharing, development of new adaptation actions, and dissemination of collective knowledge. Photo Credit: Reef Resilience

5 03, 2017

Indian Women Worst Hit By Water Crisis

2017-09-03T20:40:54-04:00Tags: |

Rising population, pollution and the intense competition between water users has resulted in a water crisis in many parts of India. As primary stakeholders in water resource management, women make up the majority of the 330 million people bearing the brunt of severe drought, acute water shortages and agricultural distress. In the face of many threats however, Dr. Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, a New Delhi-based think tank argues that efforts to bolster women’s rights and access to information and training continue to provide hope. Photo Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS

11 02, 2017

Reclaiming Native Ground: Can Louisiana’s Tribes Restore Their Traditional Diets As Waters Rise?

2017-11-11T10:35:57-05:00Tags: |

Theresa Dardar, of the Pointe-au-Chien tribe, remembers her grandparents subsisting off of shrimp, clams, livestock and a variety of fruits and vegetables on their lands off the Louisiana coast. Due to sea level rise, flooding and hurricanes, Indigenous people are losing their lands to the sea, having a harder time cultivating the native plants and fruits of the sea that their ancestors relied upon. However, Dardar is heading an intertribal effort to restore food security to the Pointe-au-Chien, Grand Caillou/Dulac, Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, Bayou Lafourche and Grand Bayou Village tribes under the banner of the First People's Conservation Council. She and Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar, of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, are spearheading innovative solutions like boxed gardens that can be lifted with pulleys to avoid rising tides and discussing business models to make soft-shell crab harvesting a sustainable livelihood. Photo credit: Edmund D. Fountain/Food & Environment Reporting Network

23 01, 2017

Thirsty For Change: The Untapped Potential Of Women In Urban Water Management

2017-10-31T13:18:38-04:00Tags: |

Waste, pollution, and the rising demand for water by an estimated 5 billion people by 2030 is placing stress on urban water infrastructure, resulting in health and economic impacts particularly felt by urban poor and marginalized communities. Urban centers in developing countries, where women and girls are the primary water resources managers, are already being hit hardest by water stress. Drawing on studies which find that water projects involving women are transparent and equitable, increasing the number of women working in the urban water sector will help solve challenges related to design, distribution, operation, and maintenance of water systems.

3 01, 2017

Women In Lesotho Fight Drought With Keyhole Gardens

2017-07-12T19:20:04-04:00Tags: |

Maleloko Fokotsale is the chief of her small village, a title not held by many women in Lesotho. She is also one of many women who bear the double burden of domestic chores and full-time farm work during a years-long drought in the area. Maleloko tends to a sustainable “keyhole” garden on her land, which requires up to 70% less water to produce vegetables than traditional gardens, saving women like Maleloko from walking miles each day to collect water. Photo credit: Ryan Lenora Brown

1 01, 2017

Here Are The Women (2017): Eta Tuvuki

2017-11-07T11:35:01-05:00Tags: |

Eta Tuvuki is a community leader and member of Soqosoqo Vakamarama, Buretu Women’s Club and femLINKpacific’s rural network of women leaders since 2012, in Rakiraki, Fiji. She speaks out about the lack of access to clean water since Tropical Cyclone Winston hit her country one year ago, and how this impacts the community's food security as well. Droughts, heavy rains and floodings are weather patterns that deeply affect the water and result in further issues for food sovereignty in her area. Access, ownership and tenure of land are another big problem, especially for women, the main providers of food for their families. Tuvuki shares the hardships she and others in her community face now; she calls for government action and women’s presence and input in much-needed solutions. Photo credit: femLINKpacific

17 12, 2016

Alaskan Native Villages Are Threatened By Rising Sea Levels And Coastal Erosion

2017-10-19T23:03:31-04:00Tags: |

Lucy Adams, an elder of the Kivalina tribe in northern Alaska, speaks out about the impacts of climate change on the island of Kivalina. Millie Hawley, Kivalina Tribal President, and Colleen Swan, former city council official, speak about the severe erosion that many coastal villages are experiencing, forcing them to evacuate with no government assistance. At a certain point, adaptation is out of the question; relocation is the only option left. Photo credit: Al Jazeera/Facebook

22 11, 2016

From Standing Rock To Morocco: Women Against Corporate Polluters

2017-07-16T13:45:48-04:00Tags: , |

Women around the world are fighting for climate justice: Indigenous Moroccan activist Moha Tawja points out the parallel efforts between her community in Amazigh and the community of Standing Rock in North Dakota. Both groups of women are advocating against extractive industries and a lack of respect for tribal sovereignty.. Though a world away geographically, their efforts point to the global nature of Indigenous resistance against the exploitation of water, and the depth and strength of the movement. Photo credit: Nadir Bouhmouch  

13 09, 2016

Battle Against The Dakota Access Pipeline Launched By Native Women

2017-07-12T19:33:29-04:00Tags: |

Ladonna Brave Bull Allard of the Standing Rock Sioux ignited a movement to protect the tribe's water source from the Dakota Access Pipeline when she began the Sacred Stone Camp in Cannonball, North Dakota. Native women have been the center of the #NODAPL movement, using non-violent civil disobedience and prayer to stand strong in the face of bulldozers, pepper spray, and dogs. In addition to standing at the front lines in North Dakota, they have organized camps and prayer vigils across the country and lobbied in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Facebook  

10 09, 2016

The Art Of Saving Oceans

2017-09-21T16:48:53-04:00Tags: |

Angela Pozzi, an artist and the founder of Washed Ashore, constructs artistic sculptures in the form of sea creatures using plastics collected from Oregon beaches to raise awareness about marine pollution. Her works have been displayed at several zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian National Zoo exhibition. Her sculptures were shown at the State Department during the Our Oceans Conference in 2016, to influence policy makers on core decisions about protecting the world’s oceans. Starting in 2017, Washed Ashore offers international training workshops for people who want to use art to raise awareness of ocean litter. Photo credit: Nachama Soloveichik

20 07, 2016

From Where I Stand: Lorraine Kakaza

2017-10-17T19:53:09-04:00Tags: |

Lorraine Kakaza is a resident of Carolina, a small South African town near the border with Swaziland. In the UN Women series “From where I stand” she spoke in a series of podcasts about the impacts of local mining on her life as a woman, farmer, and community member. She highlights the difficulty of accessing clean water for irrigation, cooking, and bathing, as well as the links between gender, extractive industries, and universal access to clean water. Photo credit: UN Women/Helen Sullivan

20 07, 2016

Wang Yong Chen: The Clark Kent Of China

2017-07-12T19:38:25-04:00Tags: |

Along with other Chinese environmentalists, Wang Yong Chen is fighting to protect the Nu-Salween River from the development of a hydropower dam. She has spent her career fighting to protect the Nu-Salween, the only free-flowing river left in China located in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. In 1996, she founded Green Earth Volunteers, one of the first environmental NGOs in China. Photo credit: International Rivers

19 07, 2016

Shining: Co-Powering Communities of Shan State

2018-02-20T18:25:29-05:00Tags: |

Local leader Shining works in solidarity with ethnic minority communities along the Thanlwin River Basin in Myanmar’s Shan State. An alumnus of EarthRights International’s Mekong School, Shining co-founded the Mong Pan Youth Association and Weaving Bonds Across Borders to educate and cultivate leaders at the local and international levels. Through trainings and workshops, she helps to build the communities’ capacity to engage in the EIA process, advocate for their rights, and defend the environment against the proposed Mong Ton Dam and future projects that risk severe short-term and long-term impacts. Photo credit: EarthRights International

19 07, 2016

Shining: Co-Powering Communities Of Shan State, Myanmar

2018-03-01T12:24:38-05:00Tags: |

Shining, a Burmese environmental rights defender, sustainable development advocate, and cofounder of the Mon-Pan Youth Association and Weaving Across Borders, is empowering youth and local communities to stand up for their rights and protect the environment around the Thanlwin River Basin. She holds training workshops to increase local communities’ understanding of EIA and SIA procedures to better protect themselves against violations of their rights. Photo credit: EarthRights International

11 07, 2016

Water Song: Indigenous Women And Water

2023-04-16T15:28:48-04:00Tags: |

For Indigenous Peoples in Canada, water is a living thing and a spiritual entity with life-giving forces. Indigenous women have a strong relationship with water and traditionally have been considered its caretakers and protectors. Unsurprisingly, these women have often been referred to as “Keepers of the Water” or “Carriers of the Water.” Colonial institutions and tools have fragmented this relationship, creating disconnects between the land and Indigenous Peoples and, thus, the role of women in water governance. But Indigenous women are resilient, strong and are reasserting their role in local, regional, and national governance systems and dialogues. They are leading efforts to rebuild spiritual and cultural connections with water in their communities and are leading efforts across Canada to protect water. Indigenous women played a key role in developing a framework to support the engagement and re-empowering of Indigenous women in water governance in Canada. Already, the implementation of this framework is supporting Indigenous women to reassert their traditional roles and engaging more women in water stewardship activities. 

1 06, 2016

One Third Of Women And Girls Worldwide Don’t Have Toilets: Here’s Why That’s A Feminist And Environmental Issue

2017-11-01T01:37:48-04:00Tags: |

One third of women and girls across the world, primarily in developing countries, don’t have toilets at home, which makes them vulnerable to sexual violence. According to UNICEF, one in ten girls either drops out or skips school during their monthly cycle in developing countries. Lydia Zigomo, WaterAid’s head of region for East Africa, argued we need to look at deeper questions like 24/7 water supply to the toilet in densely populated settlements. Photo credit: AP/Channi Anand

18 05, 2016

First Nations Women Sing Watersong At Town Hall Event Against Energy East Project

2017-07-12T19:56:35-04:00Tags: |

Women from the Nipissing and North Bay First Nations are singing Water Songs to raise awareness about the TransCanada Corporation’s proposed Energy East pipeline project, which would dangerously convert old pipelines to transport new oil sands and threaten watersheds along its route from Alberta to New Brunswick. Photo credit: Anishinabek News

16 05, 2016

Women Walk To Raise Awareness About Water Project In Nova Scotia

2017-07-12T19:48:37-04:00Tags: |

For over seven years, the women of the Mi’Kmaq Nation have united annually to walk for ten days along the Shubenacadie River. With these river walks, they raise awareness about a natural gas pipeline project proposed by Alton Gas, which would threaten sacred local rivers, ecosystems and Indigenous communities. Photo credit: APTN National News

14 05, 2016

Mariana Da Silva Morais Of Alto Alegre On Pollution Of The Environment

2018-02-14T22:22:13-05:00Tags: |

Mariana da Silva Morais, a sixteen-year-old student from the town of Alto Alegre in Brazil’s Maranhão, shares a self-produced video story about the severe living conditions her community has had to face over the past six years, demanding that public authorities take responsibility. Mariana describes how the Tapuio River is central to her community’s culture and livelihood, but is suffering from intense pollution from a nearby dump which has taken a toll on environmental and human health. Photo credit: Comundos

2 05, 2016

How One Small Town Is Winning The Water War Against Nestle

2017-07-12T20:01:14-04:00Tags: |

Donna Diehl, a 55 year-old bus driver, is amongst those leading the fight against Nestle’s plan to extract and bottle water in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania for profit. They have joined the efforts of thousands of people across the United States who are passing local ballot initiatives to protect their water sources. Photo credit: Flickr

27 04, 2016

The Dammed Of The Earth

2018-10-17T18:33:57-04:00Tags: |

Listen to Sian Cowman and Philippa de Boissière, researchers at The Democracy Center, discuss their article “Dammed of the Earth” in which they address the terminal environmental and human rights impacts of hydroelectric projects on indigenous territories. They also provide background to the assassination of Berta Cáceres and hint at possible means of continued resistance. Photo credit: Daniel Cima

20 04, 2016

How These Women Beat All Odds, Dug A 20-Foot-Deep Well And Solved Their Village’s Water Crisis

2017-09-20T20:24:42-04:00Tags: |

A group of twenty determined women from the Kalikavu village near the Malappuram district of Kerala, working through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, are solving their community’s water scarcity—as well as breaking stereotypes around gender and labour—by digging wells. Safety hazards, hardship, and lack of help from government authorities have not hindered these women in digging 100 bore wells in the past year. Momentum for such initiatives is spreading across India. Bold women in Langoti village in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh also dug their own well after village authorities refused to help. Photo credit: Youth Ki Awaaz

20 04, 2016

The Sea Walls Are Out In The Sea: World’s First Climate Refugees Ask For Australia’s Help

2017-09-21T18:32:18-04:00Tags: |

Ursula Rakova is the director of Tulele Peisa, the Carteret Islands relocation program in Bougainville. Pais Taehu is the coalition chairman of the Atolls Temarai. The two set out on an Australian speaking tour to raise awareness for the plight of their people, the world’s first climate refugees. Despite their efforts in helping their communities relocate, the international community has failed them. The seas will not stop wreaking havoc on their homeland and shorelines, so according to Rakova, the relocation process needs to be accelerated. Photo credit: Tulele Peisa

13 04, 2016

From Where I Stand: Sita Shrestha

2017-09-03T20:36:55-04:00Tags: |

Long treks and hours dedicated to fetching water for her family have long characterized Sita Shrestha’s life in Chiluane, Nepal. The aftermath of the devastating 2015 earthquake led to the mysterious disappearance of many water springs in Shrestha’s village. With the last remaining water spout in danger of complete contamination and or drying up, Sita harnessed the power of community organizing to work with villagers to improve the conditions of the remaining spout. Photo credit: UN Women/N. Shrestha

4 04, 2016

Women’s Rights Undercut By Bangladesh Water Crisis

2017-07-12T19:42:35-04:00Tags: |

Chandrika Banarjee is the director of the Bengali NGO Women’s Uplifting Organisation, which focuses on the health and environmental rights of women in southern Bangladesh. She discusses how the coastal water crisis in her country impacts women's health and economic opportunities. Photo credit: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP

26 02, 2016

Wikwemikong’s Josephine Mandamin Honoured For Conservation Excellence

2017-07-17T15:23:05-04:00Tags: |

Josephine Mandamin, a Canadian First Nation elder of the Wikwemikong people, has spent years taking action to protect her Native culture while building awareness about the detrimental impacts of pollution, fracking and water privatization. Since 2003, she has been a leader of the Sacred Water Walks, walking the shorelines of the Great Lakes to raise awareness about the impact of oil pollution on water. Photo credit: Edge of Change, Yes magazine

23 02, 2016

PFPI: Women Of The Shore

2017-09-21T18:25:22-04:00Tags: |

The abundant marine resources of the Verde Island Passage, a conservation corridor, are the source of food and livelihood for the fishing communities of Oriental Mindoro. Women from these communities share how climate change reduces their livelihood opportunities. Their stories underline the need for integrated solutions that encompass key elements, including population and environmental health, needed to build climate-resilient communities. Photo credit: PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc.

14 02, 2016

‘Little Teresa’ Helps São Paulo Women Fight Drought And Male Domination — With Rain Barrels

2018-02-14T22:26:46-05:00Tags: |

Terezinha da Silva is an active leader in her São Paulo community, helping her neighbors weather the region’s severe two-year water crisis, while empowering women to advance sustainable solutions. Terezinha has developed a low-cost rainwater harvesting barrel that helps save money and keeps water on-hand for use during times of drought shutoffs. She believes passionately in the power of women claiming their dignity and achieving economic independence, especially in a male-dominated nation that has high levels of violence against women. She has also co-founded a women’s collective called Bread and Art and local nonprofit, Movimento de Defesa do Favelado, through which she is teaching women how to build and install over 50 rain barrels in the community and advancing a new project on vertical community gardens. The community organizing effort has built awareness of water resources, put power in the hands of the community, and placed a spotlight on the lack of government accountability. Photo credit: Anne Bailey

20 01, 2016

The Woman Who Loved Orcas

2017-10-23T19:25:12-04:00Tags: |

This is the story of Eva Saulitis and her love for orcas (or killer whales). Marine biologist, poet, and author, Eva—who passed away in 2016—spent most of her life studying and writing about the plight of orcas. She observed and recorded the movements and health of numerous orcas near Alaska. The population of AT1 orcas had already suffered; then the Exxon Valdez oil spill devastated them. Eva published a memoir of her life among the killer whales; at one point she described how visualization of orcas even helped her through chemotherapy. Her memoir includes stories of individual orcas whose lives she passionately studied and documented. Photo credit: Chris Mueller

14 01, 2016

As A Child, The Beach Was Synonymous With Tar On My Feet

2018-02-14T22:25:04-05:00

 A young woman, Stephanie Dube Dwilson, shares how her childhood in Texas was tied to the water, and how an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico impacted her life when it made black tar a mainstay at the beaches. She recounts how baby oil was a typical item brought on family outings to help clean the tar from their bodies after wading in the ocean. She shares hopes that with new energy futures and  advancements that eliminates oil dependence, contaminated waters will one day no longer be a way of life for people in her region or anywhere else in the world. Photo credit: Flickr

30 11, 2015

Women Of The Lagoon: Confronting Climate Change In Coastal Vietnam

2017-11-05T12:03:55-05:00Tags: |

Climate Justice Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) by Center for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) and Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD) joined forces for this documentary on coastal Vietnamese communities and their struggles to resist climate change impacts in their lives. Women are traditionally relegated to the household and lack participation in community affairs. That is what the FPAR project aims to tackle, by offering training and workshops to women so they can learn more about resilience and risk reduction, preparing for and dealing with the consequences of climate change, and influencing climate policies. Tran Vu Kim Hoa and Phan Thi Thanh Thuy share their success stories of utilising salty water and sandy terrain for watermelon crops. Le Thi Xuan Lan and Huynh Thi The speak about how they learned the importance of waste management for health and environmental maintenance, which improved quality of life and increased fishing activities. Watch more to see how this project positively impacted the lives of women in the region. Photo Credit: SRD and APWLD

29 11, 2015

Lisa Mead: Depletion Of Marine Life

2017-10-29T00:05:04-04:00Tags: |

This video was shot at the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature International Tribunal at the Paris COP21. Lisa Mead, Director of the Earth Law Alliance, presents a new case for consideration to the panel of Tribunal Judges. Marine life is severely threatened by several factors such as deep-sea mining and oil extraction, pollution from plastics and other toxics, sewage and agricultural run-off, birds and mammals which are being killed by nets and lines and fish farming which affects native species. The case that she presents on “Depletion of Marine Life” concerns three issues which are interrelated: the lack of an integrated Ocean care and governance, the extensive overfishing and the inadequacy of marine conservation efforts. Photo credit: Rights4Nature

15 10, 2015

Listening To Kara Women Speak

2017-08-26T12:20:32-04:00Tags: |

The Kara people of Ethiopia are one of eight distinct indigenous communities of the Lower Omo valley in Ethiopia, whose lives and livelihoods are being threatened by agricultural plantations and the construction of the Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam. Once completed, the dam will disrupt fragile ecosystems in the region and threaten the Omo people’s way of life and culture, passed down generation to generation through oral tradition. Jane Baldwin’s exhibition, “Kara Women Speak”, is an account of the intricate ways in which Kara women have responded to the damming of the Omo River and the persistence of patriarchy in their lives, and finally, their resistance to an oppressive state, its machinery and foreign investments. Photo credit: Jane Baldwin

12 10, 2015

Lakota Women Lead Charge Against Uranium Mine

2017-07-17T16:51:37-04:00Tags: |

Grandmother Debra White Plume is one of the Indigenous Lakota women leading a campaign to prevent the renewal of permits for uranium mining corporations in Nebraska. The women are also working to educate their communities about the dangers of water contamination caused by mining. Photo credit WNV/Rosy Torres

6 10, 2015

17-Year-Old Deepika Kurup Combats Water Injustice With New Invention

2017-07-12T20:44:53-04:00Tags: |

Budding young scientist Deepika Kurup has developed a life-saving and sustainable solution to combat the global water crisis. Her solar water disinfection system is poised to help millions access safe and clean water. She is also forging a path for women inventors in a traditionally male-dominated field. Photo credit: Forbes Magazine

26 09, 2015

A Call To Action For Indigenous Rights From Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn

2017-10-26T16:13:07-04:00Tags: |

Activist Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn iwi of the Māori of Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kuri people in Aotearoa (New Zealand) stands as a protector of Indigenous rights and territories, and the health of coastal ecosystems and customary Indigenous fisheries. As an executive member of Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa, the governing authority for her Te Rarawa peoples, Catherine is an outspoken voice against colonization, and for the upholding of Indigenous rights to their lands, waters and sustainable economies. During recent meeting of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, she spoke out about the impacts of deep sea oil drilling and rising seas on Pacific Indigenous peoples, amongst other vital issues. Photo credit: Shane Brown, Global Coordinating Group Media Team

22 09, 2015

Women Of Kenya Harvest Rainwater

2017-07-12T20:47:35-04:00Tags: |

Worldwide, 1.2 billion people live in water-scarce regions, where waterborne diseases like diarrhea spread easily and women spend hours per day collecting water. Rose Atieno and Catherine Ondele are bringing clean drinking water to rural villages in Kenya as part of a wider initiative to empower women by providing them with the skills to harvest rainwater. Photo credit: Karin Slater

12 08, 2015

Our Lives Matter: Women Fighting For Water Justice In South Africa

2017-07-17T22:08:54-04:00Tags: |

Women representing the communities of Somkhele and Fuleni in South Africa gathered at a Water Assembly in Kwazulu Natal with a clear message about their experiences of water scarcity. Women in these drought-stricken communities have been heavily impacted by coal mining and extractives industries, resulting in a clear water shortage, along with diminishing livestock and farming opportunities. Supported by WoMin, local women presented a clear set of demands to local stakeholders to inform strategies addressing the water scarcity. Photo credit: Heidi Augestad

23 06, 2015

Lucy Billings Carries A Tune In Her New Album: Carry The Water

2017-09-21T16:53:21-04:00Tags: |

After losing her job as an attorney for the State of California, Lucy Billings traveled to Nashville to pursue her musical dreams. Her songs reflect her passion for clean water access and conservation. She uses her voice to raise awareness about access to clean water, as well as making this a reality through her collaboration with the nonprofit organizations Blood:Water and Amman Imman. Photo credit: Diane Graham

28 05, 2015

California Drought: A Precursor Of Things To Come

2017-09-21T16:37:05-04:00Tags: |

In this eye-opening article, Maude Barlow—a Canadian author, activist, Movement Rights board member, Head of Council of Canadians and founder of Blue Planet Project—sheds lights on the California drought of 2015. Water plundering by private industries was the culprit of this drought. Water is a human right, and lack of access to water is no longer a dilemma facing only the Global South. Governments need to stand up to industries and private interests for a water-secure world. Photo credit: AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

21 05, 2015

Martha Davis: A Champion For The Queen Conch

2017-10-25T23:09:48-04:00Tags: |

Martha Davis established Community Conch in 2009, an organization that conducts surveys, raises awareness and works toward reversing the decline of the Caribbean queen conch population. Despite NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Services’ study which indicated that the queen conch population was stable and therefore did not require protection under the US Endangered Species Act, Martha and her organization demonstrated that there was a problem of inadequate densities of queen conch reproduction in the Bahamas, grave issue of illegal poaching of the conches, and sparse populations near human settlements. This continued work has allowed them to garner support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and the Smithsonian field station along the Florida Coast. Photo credit: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

3 05, 2015

Four Women, Three Countries, One Free Flowing River

2017-08-26T12:43:29-04:00Tags: |

The Amur-Heilong River, which originates in the Khan Khentil wilderness in Mongolia and flows through Russia and China, is one of the world’s ten largest ten rivers as well as one of the last free-flowing rivers left on the planet. An all-female team of scientists from the United States and Australia is bringing this little known river to the world stage, drawing attention to its breath-taking biodiversity and the threats it faces from climate change, illegal wildlife trade, pollution, resource extraction and proposed dam projects. The team is collecting scientific data as well as photos and videos which the women will public in a web atlas of the Amur River, to be shared with the world. Photo credit: Petr Sharov and V. Solkin

18 03, 2015

Tahira Ali Shalah: A Martyr For Water Rights And Women’s Rights

2017-08-26T12:34:19-04:00Tags: |

In 2004, para-military forces known as Rangers illegally occupied numerous fresh water bodies in the Indus Delta, Pakistan, depriving local communities of their fishing livelihoods. In need, the fishermen sought the help of Tahira Ali Shah, the the senior vice-chairperson of the Pakistan Fisher-Folk Forum (PFF). Shah helped to break the longstanding gender bias that women should not be on the front lines of political struggle, so that when the day came to stand up to the Rangers, women and men succeeded in reclaiming their waters - shoulder to shoulder. On the eve of International Rivers Day on March 14, 2012, Shah led a historic people’s caravan under the banner “Keep Rivers Free” as part of a year-long campaign to restore the Indus River. Since her death in 2015, Tahira has been remembered for her tireless work.

17 03, 2015

We Can’t Hold Back The Sea: A Woman’s Story Of Climate Survival

2017-10-19T23:06:48-04:00Tags: |

In the Carteret Islands, women are traditional inheritors of the land. As her island’s shorelines were eroding and the crops disappearing fast, woman leader Ursula Rakova had to act promptly to save her land, people and cultural identity. She founded Tulele Peisa, and with a grant from Global Greengrants she was able to develop a staged relocation program for the Carteret people. Photo credit: Global Greengrants Fund

30 01, 2015

Alexandra Cousteau: Saving Our Water Planet

2017-10-16T18:39:58-04:00Tags: |

National Geographic Emerging Explorer Alexandra Cousteau discusses the importance of conserving Earth’s natural water resources. In this talk given to the 2008 Bioneers conference, she discusses her international expeditions and the projects she is working on to fight for water security and water justice—including the imminent problem of water refugees. Photo credit: Bioneers

28 01, 2015

Restoring Freshwater In Micronesia

2017-08-26T15:43:47-04:00Tags: |

In Southern Pohnpei, Micronesia, waterborne diseases have plagued the residents of Kepirohi village since the 1960’s due to septic system waste produced by an upstream trade school. However, since 2004, the Penietik Women’s organization has been cleaning and restoring the community’s water supply with the help of a grant from the Global Greengrants Fund. The women lay PVC pipe to connect the springs to the village, and built two faucets along the village road to give people easy access to drinking water.The cleaning of the Liepei Kapirohi and Sako traditional springs has ensured the provision of clean and fresh drinking water to the village and surrounding communities. Photo credit: Stefan Krasowski

1 01, 2015

Marilyn Baptiste, 2015 Goldman Prize Recipient

2017-10-16T18:09:27-04:00Tags: |

As chief of the Xeni Gwet’in (Tsilhqot’in) First Nation, Marilyn Baptiste led her people’s charge against the open-pit gold and copper mine that was proposed to be built on her ancestral land. In response, Baptiste convened her community to prepare a report about how the mine would harmfully disrupt the Xeni Gwet’in connection to the water and land, including nearby Fish Lake. Though the Canadian government denied Taseko Mines Limited the permit to construct the mine in 2011, the company started moving in construction equipment, which Baptiste resisted with her body and her organization First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FNWARM). The mine finally rejected, Baptiste is now working to protect the area as Disqox Tribal Park. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

19 12, 2014

How One Indigenous Woman Took On A Multinational Mining Corporation, And Won

2017-08-26T14:35:39-04:00Tags: |

Máxima Acuña suffered violent eviction attempts, beatings and a lengthy legal battle for four years to protect her land from a multinational coal mining corporation - and won. Acuña and her family depend on her farmland and the clean waters of Lake Laguna Azul for drinking water and crop irrigation. The Minera Yanocha and Newmont Mining corporations attempted to displace this family in order to build an open-pit mine near the lake, but Acuña courageously defended her community and the environment. Photo credit: Jorge Chávez Ortiz

31 10, 2014

With Women Empowered Change Is Poo-sible!

2017-10-31T22:49:28-04:00Tags: |

Josephine Auma is the leader of Uganda-based organization Action for Women and Awakening in Rural Environment. As a participant in the Global Women's Water Initiative three-year  "Women and Water Training Program" she is learning to build water and sanitation technologies and promote local economic development in doing so. Her work has led to the adaptation of community toilets, which is preventing the spread of bacteria and illness in her community. Photo credit: Global Women's Water Initiative

31 10, 2014

[H2opeful Women] Water Champions Are Ageless!

2017-10-31T22:47:45-04:00Tags: |

Secretary for Water and Works in the Moyo District of Uganda, Angella Tassas is a former refugee who is bringing women's voices to the table regarding water management. After attending a training with the Global Women's Water Initiative about clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, she is now sharing her knowledge as a community educator and leader. Photo credit: Global Women's Water Initiative

21 10, 2014

Mariana Goméz Soto: We Prefer Water To Gold

2017-07-12T20:58:16-04:00Tags: |

Anthropologist Mariana Goméz Soto is on the front lines of the battle against a giant government-backed gold mine and tailings dam in her hometown of Doima, Colombia. Doima is a farming town located in the Andean Highland’s Paramos, a water-rich ecosystem particularly vulnerable to mining waste. The community opposed the mining project during the consultation phase, and women continue to resist the construction of a toxic tailings pond through sit-ins and legal battles. Mariana Goméz Soto has been actively creating bridges between the community, experts in Bogota, and international allies to protect Doima’s farmland and aquifers. Photo credit: theecologist.org

30 04, 2014

The Woman Who Breaks Mega-Dams

2017-08-26T14:21:18-04:00Tags: |

Ruth Buendía Mestoquiari is an environmental rights defender who insists that the law is on her side. Invoking an International Labor Organization treaty that Peru ratified in 1994 and legislation passed in 2011, Buendía maintains that the Peruvian government must consult with Indigenous communities before launching infrastructure projects or mining concessions that will affect them, a process known as prior consultation. As the first female president of CARE, an organization which represents about 10,000 Indigenous Ashaninka in the Peruvian Amazon, she has successfully stopped the construction of two mega-dams along the Ene River. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

6 04, 2014

Women Key To Curbing Water Pollution

2017-09-03T20:44:30-04:00Tags: |

Minnesota’s lakes and streams are increasingly polluted due to nutrient runoff from farm fertilizers. Nicole Helget, a university of Minnesota graduate student, and her team of four women are working on solutions through the Plum Creek Initiative. Through the initiative, rural women are paid to inform farmers about increasing statewide water pollution and help farms reduce the water pollution they produce. Photo credit: Flickr CC/Aaron Carlson

1 04, 2014

Brazil’s Fisherwomen Blighted By Industrial Pollution

2017-11-01T23:59:50-04:00Tags: |

Edinilda de Ponto dos Carvalhos, a marisqueira fisherwoman from Brazil, is one of many women severely impacted by odorless chemical released by industrial development in the Pernambuco state of Brazil. The mud mixed in oil and waste causes itching, echoes Valeria Maria de Alcántara. Due to water pollution, these women have had to take other part time jobs to sustain their families. Photo credit: Felipe Ferreira/Getty Images

13 02, 2014

Voices Of The Xingu: Antonia Melo, Amazon Warrior

2017-07-12T21:00:34-04:00Tags: |

Mother of five Antonia Melo coordinates the Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Siempre, a grassroots mobilization to oppose the construction of the Belo Monte Dam in Brazil. If completed, the project would divert the flow of one of the Amazon River’s most important tributaries and devastate thousands of acres of rainforest, displacing 20,000 people and threatening the livelihoods of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples. Melo’s tireless work to coordinate the efforts of 150 different grassroots groups has made her indispensable to the resistance for over two decades. Photo credit: Amazon Watch

3 02, 2014

Noelene Nabulivou’s Speech At The OWG 8 Morning Session: Oceans And Seas

2018-10-17T18:36:22-04:00Tags: |

Noelene Nabulivou, representative of the Diverse Voices and Action for Equality Fiji, DAWN, and the Women's Major Group, speaks to the eighth session of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals in New York. She calls for urgent action on the impacts of global warming and environmental degradation on our oceans and seas. Nabulivou recommends a biosphere approach—recognizing the interconnectedness of air, land, and sea—to working on oceans and sustainable development. She also emphasizes the importance of gender equality, human rights, and effective governance.

28 12, 2013

One Mapuche Woman’s Peaceful Fight Inspires Chile’s Environmental Movement

2017-08-26T14:32:42-04:00Tags: |

Nicolasa Quintreman and her sister, Berta, led a decade-long battle against the construction of a dam on the Bio Bio River in south-central Chile. Nicolasa inspired her neighbors to peacefully occupy mountain roads and bridges to block construction equipment from reaching the site where the Endesa electricity company had planned to construct the dam. Although the Quintreman sisters and the Mapuche Indigenous community lost the fight against Endesa and were displaced to Alto Bio Bio, their struggle led the Chilean government to strengthen national environmental protections and laid the groundwork for the creation of a network of community organizers, indigenous leaders, politicians, scientists and lawyers that have blocked more than 20 environmentally damaging energy projects. Photo credit: twitter

1 08, 2013

Keepers Of The Water: Anishinaabe And Métis Women’s Knowledge In Kenora, Ontario

2017-10-31T13:20:11-04:00Tags: |

Natasha Szach’s Master’s thesis documents the wealth of knowledge Anishinaabe and Métis Indigenous women possess regarding water and water governance. Her work explores the ways in which their vital knowledge is a useful tool of resistance against the commodification of water in Kenora, Ontario, and reaffirms the necessity of maintaining the commons for all.

19 07, 2013

Women’s Work: Adapting To Climate Change In Manus, Papua New Guinea

2017-09-21T17:39:40-04:00Tags: |

As rising sea levels threaten livelihoods on the island of Manus, local women have taken matters into their own hands and formed the Women in Conservation (WIC) group to fight for the environment and food security. Their activities, including mangrove rehabilitation and backyard/atoll farming, help women cope with the effects of climate change on food production. Image credit: Climate & Community

1 09, 2012

Experts Emphasize Women’s Role in Domestic Water Conservation

2020-10-23T23:11:23-04:00Tags: |

Simi Kamal, chairperson of the Hisaar Foundation and Karachi Water Partnership, is an expert on water conservation and its intersections with women’s rights. Under her leadership, a series of workshops and events have been arranged so that housewives in Karachi can better understand the need for conservation as well as learn appropriate conservation techniques. Another water leader, Farzana Saleem, also highlights how water management has traditionally been considered “women’s work” and so women are still the main, albeit informal, water managers in Pakistan. But their voice in these matters has also traditionally been neglected. Thus, the importance of organizations like South Asia Women and Water Network cannot be stressed enough. This organization provides a platform for women across South Asia so that their inputs concerning water management and conservation can be heard by the larger community. 

1 01, 2012

Nothing Is Impossible: Global Women’s Water Initiative

2017-10-18T11:43:43-04:00Tags: |

The 2011 graduates of the Women’s Water Initiative share their success stories a year after the 3rd Women and Water Training. Their newly acquired skills in building biosand filters, rainwater harvesting tanks and latrines have not only aided them in solving their communities’ water and sanitation challenges, but also influence water policy and earn incomes professionalizing their services. Their achievements are remarkable. Photo credit: Vimeo

1 01, 2012

West African Women And Water Training

2017-10-18T11:39:18-04:00Tags: |

Women are the primary stakeholders of water in many communities. Women from Togo, Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, amongst others, convened at the 2010 West African Women and Water Training in Ghana to learn skills to transform their communities. The trainers and participants included Monica Ayomah, rainwater harvesting specialist; Elizabeth Noah, participant; Gloria Urevbu, participant; Nadia Ali Dawud, participant; Pandora Thomas of the Global Peer USA; Amira Diamond of the Women’s Earth Alliance; Ade Odunsi, action planning trainer; and Elizabeth Kramer of the Women’s Earth Alliance. The workshop supported women to defy gender stereotypes and use technology effectively to promote water sanitation in their respective regions. Photo credit: Women’s Earth Alliance

2 11, 2011

Fisherwomen’s Adaptation Strategies In Rural Sri Lanka

2017-11-02T00:15:08-04:00Tags: |

The findings of research conducted by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) in the Puttalam and the Kalmunai districts of Sri Lanka explore the consequences of social and cultural barriers fisherwomen face while adapting to climate change. The rise of ocean water, loss of biodiversity and extreme weather conditions have compelled fisherwomen to look for strategies for their family’s survival, such as using available resources to prevent water intrusion in their land. A major barrier to adaptation is the lack of knowledge about climate change, lack of women leaders at the local and national levels, and the limitations of gender roles. Photo credit: Use Default

29 10, 2011

Women In The Philippines’ Cordillera Region Respond To Climate Change, Mining Threats

2017-10-29T01:22:13-04:00Tags: |

This report by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development explores how Indigenous women farmers in the mountainous Cordillera region of the Philippines are feeling the impacts of climate change and extractive industries. Their livelihoods are threatened by typhoons, soil erosion and sea level rise, in addition to nearby extractive industries: 60% of the Cordillera region is occupied by gold-bearing ore and copper mining operations. However, women have mobilized to prevent the use of destructive fishing practices and promote reforestation, multi-cropping, crop diversification, and the community pooling of labor.

27 10, 2011

Environmental Activist Severely Beaten And Tortured In Iran

2017-10-27T01:00:05-04:00Tags: |

Faranak Farid, an environmental activist and journalist from Iran’s marginalized Azeri minority, was arrested for partaking in demonstrations over the destruction of Lake Orumieh, the largest body of inland water in the Middle East. She was tortured and beaten severely while in custody. She is one of several hundred environmental campaigners who have been arrested since the intensification of the campaign against the shrinking of Lake Orumieh in August 2011. Photo credit: Green Prophet

21 10, 2011

Women Rising XVII: Climate Change And Water

2017-10-31T12:16:44-04:00Tags: |

Maude Barlow is a Canadian author, activist, chairperson of Council of Canadians and cofounder of Blue Planet Project. Ge Yun is a Chinese environmental activist and executive director of the Xinjiang Conservation Fund. Listen as they speak with Women Rising Radio on the interlink between the loss of water and climate change. Individual actions are important in protecting our waters, but we need to drastically change our agricultural and production methods to address growing inequalities and balance our economic growth, in order to witness significant changes.

11 10, 2011

Mei Ng Works To Safeguard China’s Watersheds

2017-07-12T21:12:05-04:00Tags: , |

Mei Ng, environmental advocate and former director of Friends of the Earth Hong Kong is working to safeguard the source of the Dongajiang River. She is mobilizing local villagers and farmers to initiate reforestation projects in order to enhance the water catchment. In addition, Mei Ng delivers lectures and seminars to raise environmental awareness and works with local government agencies to foment partnerships with civil society. Photo credit: global500.org

10 08, 2011

Water Is Central To Every Aspect Of Our Lives: A Message From Rose Cunningham

2017-10-20T23:09:56-04:00Tags: |

Rose Cunningham, director of Wangki Tangni, a community development organization promoting sustainable development in Nicaragua and a partner to MADRE, discusses the importance of water to Nicaraguan families. Extreme weather patterns associated with climate change are threatening this precious resource and disrupting livelihoods, particularly that of women, as they are primary water managers in most households. Photo credit: MADREspeaks

1 03, 2011

No Plot Of One’s Own: How Large Dams Reinforce Gender Inequalities

2017-08-26T13:33:47-04:00Tags: |

New dams tend to aggravate existing gender inequalities and increase rather than close gender gaps, writes researcher Lyla Mehta. Since 1991 she has followed the lives of several families who were displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam, cataloging how women were not compensated for non-monetized resources (such as land use rights to communal property) in the resettlement sites and struggle to raise children without the clean water and forest resources of their ancestral village. Though some women enjoyed increased leisure time after moving, displacement also often encourages alcoholism and an uptick in sexual violence. But some women, like Chittaroopa Pali of Narmada Bacha Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) are leading successful nonviolent campaigns to protect their land and communities. Photo credit: Karen Robinson

1 03, 2011

The River Provides For Us: One Woman’s Story

2017-08-26T13:28:25-04:00Tags: |

An estimated half a million Indigenous people on the Kenya-Ethiopia border will be affected by the construction of the Gibe 3 dam on the Omo River. In this anonymous portrait, an Indigenous Omo woman shares how she and her people depend on the Omo river: irrigating sorghum crops, watering cattle and goats, and fishing for subsistence. She highlights the exclusion of women and community members from negotiations with Ethiopia’s government, though she and her community know what is at stake. The piece ends with a call to action to protect the Omo River and its people. Photo credit: Jane Baldwin

1 03, 2011

Wang Yongchen, A Warrior For China’s Free Flowing Rivers

2017-08-26T12:59:38-04:00Tags: |

Wang Yongchen is an environmental journalist, organizer, poet and founder of the Green Earth Volunteers in China. She is spearheading a public campaign to save the Nu River, which is one of China’s last free-flowing rivers, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau into Burma and Thailand. Wang uses multimedia to engage fellow journalists, document the destruction of river ecosystems, organize communities and engage with government officials to put halt to destructive projects on rivers. Wang Yongchen is, as she says, part of nature and doing what everyone should be doing. Photo credit: International Rivers

1 03, 2011

Our Rivers, Our Lives

2017-08-26T12:50:47-04:00Tags: |

Women from all corners of the globe are organizing their communities to resist harmful development projects that threaten the health of river ecosystems. In this beautiful essay, we meet five water warriors: Larissa Elena, Dipti Bhatnagar, Anabela Lemos, Liane Greef and Caleen Sisk-Franco, who is a Tribal Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemen Wintu Tribe. From Panama to Mozambique, these powerful women allow us to read their love letters to the rivers they fight to protect and to the communities of courage and resistance to which they belong. Photo credit: International Rivers

1 03, 2011

Why We Cannot Keep Silent: Women Speak Out For Rivers

2017-08-26T12:41:12-04:00Tags: |

Women around the world are at the forefront of non-violent struggles against dams that would pollute water, destroy livelihoods and forever alter sacred landscapes. In the midst of this tireless work, it is sometimes necessary to stake a step back to share, reflect and heal. The “Rivers Of Life” breakout at the Third International Meeting of Dam-Affected People provided an opportunity for women to share stories of their resistance. Maria Chuy of from Temaca, which faces submergence by the El Zapotillo Dam, shared a powerful story of her leadership in the fight to save her home. This powerful group of activists, like Soniamara Maranho of Brazil's Movement of Dam-Affected People, affirmed that women often face disproportionate struggles while trying to fight for their communities - yet persevere for their families and Mother Earth. Photo credit: Karen Robinson

1 03, 2011

Watering The Grassroots: Training African Women To Solve Water Problems

2017-08-26T12:18:24-04:00Tags: |

According to the United Nations Development Fund for women, African women and girls spend approximately 40 billion hours a year carrying and fetching water, a figure equivalent to the output of France’s entire labor force. Furthermore, more people die from unsafe water per year than all forms of violence, including war. In response, the Global Women’s Water Initiative (GWWI), a program of the Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) is working in 13 African countries to co-design strategies and trainings with ordinary African women and water and sanitation technicians on long-term solutions to the water crisis faced in the continent. Comfort and Georgia, both from Ghana, are graduates of the program who launched a rainwater harvesting system at three schools in their community. Photo credit: Global Women’s Water Initiative

23 08, 2010

A Hard Fight For Political Representation In Biloxi, Missouri

2017-08-26T15:40:50-04:00Tags: |

Sharon Hanshaw first gathered a group of women to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina in funeral home, one of the only buildings left standing amid the devastation in Biloxi, Missouri. A beautician turned activist, Sharon helped found Coastal Women for Change, a group that advocates for low-income people and people of color that are often overlooked in the redevelopment process. Traveling with the tour Climate Wise Women, Hanshaw continues to tell her story, highlighting the intersections of environmental racism, classism, gentrification and the disproportionate burden women continue to shoulder in the face of climate change. Photo credit: Debbie Elliott/NPR

18 02, 2010

South Africa Women In Fisheries Statement

2017-10-31T13:21:26-04:00Tags: |

Women leaders representing small-scale fisherfolk in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa are fighting the legacy of apartheid in the marine sector. During apartheid, the South African government restricted access to marine resources for blacks, harming communities whose livelihoods depended on the sea. Contemporary policy still privileges large commercial operations over fisher-folk. In response, the Masifundise Development Trust organized a forum at which fisherwomen called on the South African government to recognize the unique role of women in small-scale fisheries, ensure that women are compensated fairly, and put forth plans to combat sea level rise and climate change.

27 10, 2009

Rizwana Hasan Leads Legal Fight To Protect Bangladesh Marine Ecosystems

2017-10-27T16:27:09-04:00Tags: |

Rizwana Hasan is a recipient of the 2009 Goldman Prize, from Asia, more specifically, Bangladesh. Hasan is an environmental attorney who led a legal fight about the issues of ship breaking, a common practice in her country, including toxic contamination of the waters and health threats for the thousands of workers in this industry. Hasan is the executive director of the public interest law firm Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association. Photo credit: The Goldman Environmental Prize.

26 04, 2009

Sisters On The Planet: Carteret Islands

2017-10-19T23:28:49-04:00Tags: |

Sea surges are submerging the Carteret Islands and destroying their agricultural products, but most importantly forcing the inhabitants to relocate to mainland Bougainville. Ursula Rakova tells her story of survival and the establishment of her organization Tulele Peisa, which facilitates the relocation process for her people whilst preserving their cultural identity. Photo credit: Oxfam New Zealand

1 02, 2009

Sylvia Earle: Protector Of Our Oceans

2017-07-12T21:04:22-04:00Tags: |

As a marine biologist, explorer, author, and lecturer, Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to advocating for the world’s oceans. In this TED Talk, Earle emphasizes the importance of oceans to maintaining human life and the linkages between human actions and ocean health, especially in the face of climate change, pollution and exploitation. She encourages all viewers to support a global network of marine protected areas. Photo credit: oceanelders.org

26 10, 2008

Meet Rosa Hilda Ramos Of Puerto Rico’s Communities United Against Contamination

2017-10-26T13:42:19-04:00Tags: |

Goldman Environmental Prize recipient Rosa Hilda Ramos is an original founder of Communities United Against Contamination (CUCCo) and a movement leader against toxic pollution and environmental degradation in Cataño, Puerto Rico. Through persistent appeals to the state and federal government, Ramos and CUCCo successfully pressured the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to curb its emissions and drove the local acquisition and state protection of the Las Cucharillas Marsh, which supports immense ecological diversity and offers flood protection for nearby Cataño communities. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

18 06, 2008

New Hydropower Dam For Burma’s Military Capital To Displace Thousands

2017-10-31T13:22:48-04:00Tags: |

The intersection of militarization, land grabbing for large dam projects, gender violence and top-down development is clear for women from the ethnic Kayan community. In the Pyinmana hills of Burma, over 3,500 people will be displaced in order for the military government to build the Upper Paunglaung Dam, financed by Chinese investment. In response, the Kayan Women’s Union launched a report entitled “Drowning the Green Ghosts of Kaya Land” to bring attention to the negative socioeconomic, political and ecological impacts of large hydro-dams that have been built on their land for the last 40 years and the suffering that this new dam will bring to them and their communities.

11 06, 2007

The Narmada Valley: Villages Flooded, Livelihoods Destroyed

2017-10-31T13:23:39-04:00Tags: |

When the state of Madhya Pradesh, India closed the gates of the Omkareshwar dam, flooding dozens of villages, the women of Gunjari village refused to move from their homes until they got proper compensation for the destruction of their property and livelihoods. The struggle waged by the women of the Narmada valley demonstrates how women actively refuse to be victims of state and patriarchal violence, demanding liberation for themselves and for the river ecosystems that have sustained their community for thousands of years.

1 01, 2007

The Role Of Gender In Domestic Water Conservation In Malaysia 

2023-04-16T15:17:56-04:00Tags: |

Professor Chan Ngai Weng  examines the role of women as key players in achieving sustainable management of water resources in Malaysia. According to Professor Weng, despite the mismanagement of water in Malaysia causing severe impacts on women, it is women who play a significant role in mobilizing Water Demand Management (WDM) tools for domestic water conservation. Women’s roles as managers of family water budgets, decision makers on installation of water conserving devices at home and educators on the importance of water conservation play a vital role in curbing domestic water waste and ensuring wise and sustainable use of water. 

1 11, 2006

The Work Of The Gender And Water Alliance

2017-08-26T11:24:09-04:00Tags: |

Ethnè Davey, the Chairperson of the Gender and Water Alliance, maintains that there no natural reason why women should fetch water while men get educated as water engineers. Since 2000, the Gender and Water Alliance has challenged gender assumptions to ensure that the voices of poor women, children and men are heard in the planning and implementation of water management policies and systems. With 80% of its membership hailing from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, the organization actively educates community members and policy-members about how gender can reinforce age, ethnic, socioeconomic and other power differences, and the need to take these dynamics into account when designing water policy. Photo credit: Gender and Water Alliance

15 08, 2006

Micro-Hydro Powers Rural Development In Cameroon

2017-08-26T13:42:40-04:00Tags: |

Though approximately 96% of Cameroon’s grid-based electricity comes from large dams, a large part of the population still lacks access to affordable power. However, women like Mrs. Tagme of Bansoa, Cameroon are taking advantage of micro-hydro power provided by Pelton turbines and local NGO ADEID. Women receive training in the administration, maintenance and community management of the infrastructure, including community finance mechanisms: things are looking up for Cameroonian women. Photo credit: Terri Hathaway

1 01, 2006

Olya Melen, 2006 Goldman Prize Recipient, Europe

2017-10-18T11:04:15-04:00Tags: |

When the Ukranian government began to construct a canal between the Danube River and the Black Sea without public notice, young lawyer Olya Melen led the charge to protect the fragile wetland ecosystems of the Danube Delta. The Delta is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, rich in biodiversity and natural resources. Using Ukraine’s commitment to various international conventions as a legal weapon, Melen proved that the Environmental Impact Assessment of the project was inadequate and illegal in Ukraine’s court. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

15 02, 2005

Indonesia: Women’s Group Helping To Restore Mangroves In Sulawesi

2017-10-20T22:53:09-04:00Tags: |

Persatuan Perempuan Sama (Women’s Union for Equality), or PPS, is at the forefront of helping women from Wangkolabou Village on Tobea Island in Sulawesi to initiate sustainable income-generating projects. Women from the fuel wood industry are trained on the ecological benefits of protecting mangroves and alternative livelihood practices. The initiative has reaped many income-generating and ecological benefits for the women and community over the years. Photo credit: Global Greengrants Fund

1 11, 2003

Diverting The Flow (2003)

2017-10-18T11:47:42-04:00Tags: |

In this informative guide, the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization and Public Citizen study the impacts of privatization of water on women. The privatization of water resources by international financial and trade institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO, is having damaging impacts on women and their livelihoods. By introducing a price on water and through policy packages such as the Structural Adjustment Programs, profit is placed before people. As access to water is compromised, women are paying the heavier price by trekking longer distances to fetch water, limiting their availability for household and incoming generating activities, which then forces them to accept lower-quality water, creating health and sanitation hazards. Women leaders and activists are, however, continuously organizing to fight this injustice through lobbying, participation in forums challenging privatization of water and using existing institutions, such the UN, to seek gender equality and water rights.

19 01, 2003

Untapped Connections: Gender, Water And Poverty

2017-10-16T18:14:04-04:00Tags: |

The Women’s Environment and Development Organization published this report to explore women’s central role in water management and distribution and the imperative governments face to implement gender-sensitive solutions to poverty eradication. The document highlights the leadership of organizations such as the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of India, which led a ten-year campaign to revive water resources during a drought, and the Grameen Bank, which centered women’s access to land and credit in irrigation projects. The document proposes gender-sensitive approaches to water management and outlines government commitments to gender, water and poverty that were current at the time. Photo credit: Women’s Environment and Development Organization

1 01, 2003

Maria Elena Foronda Farro, 2003 Goldman Prize Recipient, South and Central America

2017-10-18T11:01:16-04:00Tags: |

Peru is the world’s largest fishmeal producer, a product exported internationally to make animal feed, fertilizers and preservatives. However, the unregulated industrial production of fishmeal polluted the air and water of Chimbote, until Maria Elena Foronda Farro and her environmental group Natura petitioned the local government to impose safety regulations and standards on the industry. Because of her activism, Foronda was sentenced on false charges of terrorism to 20 years in prison, but hasn’t let that deter her from working for environmental protection in Peru. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

1 01, 2000

Oral Ataniyazova, 2000 Goldman Prize Recipient, Asia

2017-10-31T13:41:54-04:00Tags: |

Obstetrician Oral Ataniyazova founded Perzent, the Karakalpak Center for Reproductive Health and Environment, in 1992 in order to mitigate the effects of groundwater pollution on women in Karakalpakstan, an ethnically distinct and autonomous region of Uzbekistan. The damming of the Amu Darya River and the shrinking of the Aral Sea, in addition to the runoff of industrial pollutants from monocultural cropping, mining and chemical factories, has severely impacted the health of people in the region. Ataniyazova’s center promotes women’s and reproductive health and family planning while providing training in sustainable agriculture and hygiene. This woman leader received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2000 for her work on natural resource justice. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

1 01, 1992

Medha Patkar, 1992 Goldman Prize Recipient, Asia

2017-10-18T11:50:32-04:00Tags: |

Since 1985, Goldman Environmental Prize recipient Medha Patkar has fought tribal displacement and environmental degradation from dam construction in India. She is the lead organizer of Narmada Bachao Andolan, a grassroots organization dedicated to opposing dams along the Narmada River, and helped establish the National Alliance of People’s Movement. Although facing police violence, she organizes rallies, occupations, hunger strikes, and legal battles against development projects and has seen success with a ten-year campaign against the Sardar Sarovar Dam, among other efforts. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

1 01, 1992

Christine Jean, 1992 Goldman Prize Recipient

2017-10-18T11:16:15-04:00Tags: |

A 1992 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient, Christine Jean is a protector of local ecological wealth in France. Jean fights harmful development projects and was key to blocking the 1980 Serre de la Fare dam along the Loire, Europe’s last wild river. She organized countrywide opposition into a robust campaign, S.O.S. Loire Vivante, which pressured the government to cancel the project and implement a river management program. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize