It's International Women's Day, a day for celebrating the achievements of women, and their political, social and economic advancement. In particular, the theme for this year is "gender equality today, for a sustainable future tomorrow!" - to celebrate, we want to put a spotlight on four women-led groups and organisations around the world that truly embody this theme, and are helping to build a sustainable future for not only their local community, but for the entire world!
The Sea Women of Melanesia
The Sea Women of Melanesia is an Incorporated not-for-profit in Papua New Guinea, that is doing some incredibly important work to protect coral reefs from the impacts of climate change, by educating local communities of women in indigenous conservation practices. The organisation, with a board of directors entirely comprised of indigenous women, empowers other indigenous women in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to create, manage and protect their own coral reefs, by providing them with the necessary training, skills, equipment and resources. For example, the Sea Women of Melanesia teach women scuba diving and biology skills so that they can monitor the health of coral reefs, and restore marine protected areas.
According to Evangelista Apelis, a Sea Woman and co-director of the Sea Women programme based in Papua New Guinea, "When you train a woman, you train a society… we're trying to educate women, get women on board, so they can then go back and make an impact in their own families and their society as well."
You can support the Sea Women of Melanesia by donating here!
Drop Access, Kenya
Drop Access is a women-led and youth-led NGO in Kenya, founded in 2018 by sisters Norah and Dolphine Magero. Their mission is to promote access and climate action in the rural and off-grid communities, with a vision of the future of climate-resilient African communities, with 100% energy access and adaptive capacity to climate change.
Norah uses her skills as an engineer to innovate new ways to mitigate climate change, and strengthen the resilience of local African communities. Predominantly, their focus is on affordable energy solutions, however during the Covid-19 pandemic, they developed the VacciBox - a portable, solar powered refrigerator that can easily be mounted on a bicycle, so that medical supplies (among other necessities) can be safely stored and transported to communities that have been affected by climate hazards.
You can support Drop Access here!
Svidomo, Made In Ukraine
Made in Ukraine is a women-led association that in 2020 launched a platform called Svidomo Made in Ukraine - a network of sustainably responsible businesses which promote responsible production and consumption in Ukraine, based upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This means that if a business would like to be included, they must first agree to adhere to Svidomo's six principles of sustainable entrepreneurship; respect for human rights, decent pay, safe working conditions, refusal of child and forced labour, protection and preservation of the environment and transparency of supply chains.
Their green business movement is particularly impactful in a country like Ukraine, that is home to heavy industry, and one of the largest coal mining operations in the world. Through Svidomo Made, consumers in Ukraine are empowered to support sustainable solutions.
With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Made In Ukraine has also been offering their support, including transporting and unloading more than 145 tons of humanitarian aid, and providing 3.8 million UAH (approximately $127k USD) worth in medicine.
You can support Svidomo Made by following them on facebook!
Mahila Housing Sewa Trust, India
The Mahila Housing Trust is a women-based not-for-profit whose aim is to organise and empower women in poor communities to improve and upgrade their habitat, through grassroots programs in habitat development, climate change and participatory governance. They work across seven cities in India, including population centres like Rajasthan, New Delhi and Jaipur.
In particular, their work installing sustainable cooling technology in homes across India has had an immensely positive impact on the lives of thousands of women. Heat stress is a major issue in India, where during the summer temperatures often exceed even 38 degrees. This is exacerbated by heat-trapping metal roofs that magnify the heat to sometimes fatal degrees.
As women in India are more likely to work from home, women and their work are disproportionately affected by extreme heat. The Mahila Housing Sewa Trust takes a holistic, gender-sensitive approach, making sure to consult women from affected communities to best understand the issues that they are facing, and address them accordingly. As suggested by Pranita Sinha of MHST "Women living in informal settlements are often overlooked. We want to change that and prioritise them. But we have to build trust and consult them. When they trust you, they give you permission to do anything".
You can support the Mahila Housing Sewa Trust here!
While International Women's Day is a fantastic day to highlight the work of these incredible women, let's not restrict our celebration and support for just one day in the year. Communities of women from around the world are making strides every day for change, and to ensure a safer, more sustainable future. This decade is the decisive one - we cannot have climate justice without gender equality, so let's all make a commitment to uplift and empower women in our day to day lives, and support those striving to make a difference!
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