Climate change has a gendered impact- on equity, rights, livelihoods, safety and overall wellbeing and empowerment. It exacerbates along axes of marginality–the more marginal a woman’s social location across caste, class, region, age, disability etc, the greater the impact. This is rooted in existing realities of gender inequality, primary among them being access to resources such as land, forests, incomes and other assets. One of the least visible but profound impacts is the increase in care burden, one that is least accounted for, both monetarily as well as in the overall well-being of women and girls.

Women are at the forefront of climate impact as well as adaptation and mitigation. But look at all the climate dialogues and negotiations and their glaring omission is woefully apparent. What happens when we center them? The solutions that they devise come into sharper focus. This is the idea behind this project: Climate Leaders–Women in Local Climate Action.

In this series, we document stories from across India on women who are marshalling their forces, individually and collectively, to adapt to the climate emergency that we are in the midst of. These are women who are saving their mangroves in Odisha, mapping tidal flooding in Kerala, building early warning systems for chronic drought, preserving indigenous herbs in Meghalaya and many more. These stories, at once, tell us the urgency of climate change and demonstrate the power, agency and leadership of women.

This is a collaborative effort between Womanity and BehanBox.

One Million Women, One Health Revolution

Sunita, an ASHA worker from Haryana, writes a letter to the nation. Read here.

BehanBox in collaboration with Institute of
Social Studies Trust

A BehanBox research study for Aziz Premji University

BehanBox in collaboration with Institute of
Social Studies Trust

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