The drylands, holding 40% of the world’s population, are feeling the force of climate change—and women are being hit the hardest. Dryland landscapes and communities are suffering immensely from more frequent and extended drought conditions. In these already water stricken regions, women typically bear the brunt of food and water related work, including gathering and distributing. Under drier conditions, women need to walk farther for water. These changes are resulting in decreased time for livelihood generation and education, increasing their future economic vulnerability and excluding them from resources. Despite their essential contributions, land laws, social norms, and local policies have barred women from decision making and land owning, diminishing their ability to access and control natural resources. In the Middle East and North Africa Region, for example, women make up just 10% of environmental ministers. When women’s voices are excluded, their conditions are erased and they are put in more danger when disaster comes. Thus, increasing women’s involvement in decision making around dryland forests and pastoral regions creates more informed, gender responsive, and effective policies. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has teamed up with WeCaN, a platform of women’s organizations working together to bring change to the dryland regions, to share these stories and uplift women in climate policy.
