Gender

By Carey Averbook & Leny Olivera

Climate change is about much more than climate change. Its impacts and driving factors intersect with a whole range of social, economic, political and cultural issues. Women, especially in the global South, are often particularly exposed to poverty, discrimination, lack of access to resources, exclusion from power and exposure to many forms of violence. When climate change impacts hit, the burdens women bear likewise increase disproportionately.

By Sumera B. Reshi

Life is not really rosy as it appears. For instance, I am in the UAE at the moment and you can see many women walking down the streets of the United Arab Emirates, very proud and independent from the outside. Nonetheless, the story inside seems to be a contrasting one.

Sanja Ivandić After suffering some of the most degrading and cruel aspects of the war, twenty years ago, women of all nationalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have managed to stay equally interested in the country's development, to invest in their education, to develop the most creative ways of self-employment through rural agriculture, crafts, arts, as well as to become change-makers through civil society initiatives.

By Federica Busiello When looking for empowerment projects, in a development context, we may think of livelihoods projects, vocational training and income generation activities, or projects that aim to improve access to or quality of education; or at least I used to. I have more recently come across initiatives that use arts for social change: projects that use a creative process to inspire those who participate to empower themselves.

It is difficult to explain to those outside of the country, but what is currently happening in Mexico is a situation of a structural violence towards the indigenous communities, as well as against human rights advocates and defenders, social leaders and journalists, says Mexico's human rights activist Alejandra Ancheita.

Leeches, a short movie recently produced and premiered in the UK emphasizes that human trafficking is not just a third world problem. The movie was inspired by the director Lalit Bhusal's own observations during his stints, first in India and later in the United Kingdom.

By Sayed Jalal Of course there used to be occasional rape cases in Afghanistan, but the recent trends, in a very ugly and overt way, reveal the darker side of a traditional patriarchal society. These trends also tell us that social morality is in sharp decline. From juvenile rapes by Mullas (Religious scholar) in mosques (Masjid), to rape of daughters by fathers and animal rapes.

Janakpur Handicraft Centre supports economically backward women in Nepal by giving them training, employment and other opportunities to get empowered.

Helena Lutege's microfinance institution BELITA has transformed many women's lives in Tanzania through small microcredit loans.

In the hope to also inspire GSDM readers, I would like to highlight ten amazing women from all over the globe who have been ongoing sources of inspiration to myself, Nourishing the Planet, and others.