Climate Change’s Unequal Burden on Women
Women and girls do a lot more work at home than men and boys. This work includes taking care of the family and doing housework. UN Women says women and girls do three times more of this work than men and boys. But there’s another problem that people don’t always talk about. It’s how climate change affects women and girls more than men and boys.
In recent years, there have been many big problems all around the world. These problems include things like climate change, Covid-19, and things becoming more expensive. UN Women says these problems have affected women and girls more. This makes it harder for them to be treated fairly.
Climate change is one big problem that affects women and girls a lot. Especially in places like the global south, where many countries are not as rich. When the climate changes, it causes problems like not having enough water. This means women and girls have to spend more time looking for water. In many places, it’s the job of women and girls to find water. But if they spend all their time looking for water, they can’t spend time taking care of their families or going to work.
Not having enough water also makes it harder for women to be healthy when they’re pregnant or taking care of babies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says pregnant women and new mothers need more water to stay healthy. But if there’s not enough water, they can get sick more easily.
When there’s a drought or a flood because of climate change, it makes it harder to find things like firewood and food. Women and girls often have to do more work to find these things. And if there’s not enough food, women and girls might not get enough to eat. This can be especially bad for pregnant women because they need to eat well.
In some countries, like Afghanistan and the Central African Republic, women have to work even harder because of climate change. In Afghanistan, many families said women had to work more because of a drought in 2021. And in the Central African Republic, women have to find food even when it’s hard to grow because of drought. This makes it hard for them to feed their families.
Even though all these things are happening, people don’t always think about how much work women and girls are doing. UN Women says many projects to deal with climate change rely on women’s work. But they don’t always think about how hard it is for women to do all this work. They just expect women to keep doing more and more work without thinking about their health or how much they can do.
So, it’s important to remember that women and girls are doing a lot of work to take care of their families and deal with climate change. We need to make sure they’re treated fairly and not expected to do too much.
Kidhours – Climate Change’s Unequal Burden on Women, Climate Change’s Unequal Burden on Women update , Climate Change’s Unequal Burden on Women Report