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Building women's economic and political agency in times of climate change
Introduction
Women, who are usually unpaid or underpaid for their work, and are more vulnerable to climate change than men for a well-documented range of reasons, have special contributions to make towards climate change adaptation. This is mainly because of gendered differences in positional knowledge of ecological and waterrelated conditions. NGOs, and other civil society organizations in both the Global South and the North have important expertise in building community resilience to face climate change. These are fostered through community-based education, organizing, and alliances among different types of groups.
This article analyzes some initiatives and models for community-based climate change activism, through examples in three different types of communities. It outlines the methods and results of two international projects - the Sister Watersheds project, with Brazilian partners (2002-2008), and a Climate Change Adaptation in Africa project with partners in Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa (2010-2012) - as well as the Green Change Project in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood of northwest Toronto. The main point of this paper is to show that these projects have demonstrated that local-level initiatives led by civil society organizations provide a way to address gender equity challenges by building women's knowledge, interest and engagement in waterrelated and climate change politics.
Women and Climate Injustice
Many organizations and authors including WEDO, the Women's Environment and Develoment Organization, and WECAN, the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International, maintain that women are disproportionately affected by global climate change as a result of poverty, socially constructed gender inequalities, gendered work and family responsibilities, reliance on natural resources for livelihoods as part of "women's work", and the limited financial, social, and institutional resources available to women across the globe.
However, women are often key agents of change. They possess invaluable local ecological, social and political knowledge that is crucial for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Also, in their roles in the teaching, caring, health, and administrative professions, women's skills are central for community-building, social interdependence, and cultural change.
Everywhere, women are usually the local leaders, organizers and activists on water, food, and other environmental issues (Perkins, 2013). The women's movement has been very important in the construction of democratic governance in many countries in...