Spotlight on Women’s Collective Farming

The Women’s Action in Development (NAWAD), an organisation established in Uganda in 2009, is dedicated to empowering women and girls while advocating for social justice, economic stability, and sustainable environmental management. The organisation emphasises collaborative empowerment, stressing the importance of cooperation with men to strengthen families and communities and unlock the full potential of all Ugandans. Notably, NAWAD actively engages in agriculture, advocating for collective farming to address land-related challenges. By encouraging women to combine resources for joint land purchases, NAWAD highlights the enhanced protection that comes from collective ownership, making external interventions, particularly from husbands, more difficult. Harvesting is also approached as a collective effort, allowing women to reap greater benefits from their combined hard work throughout the year. In this way, NAWAD offers women the opportunity to leverage their diverse skills, knowledge, and experiences collectively, thus promoting the development of community resilience.

Spotlight on Fridays For Future

Individual examples, particularly notable among female climate activists, further highlight the impactful role of young women in climate action. One prominent illustration is the global climate strike movement, Fridays for Future, which commenced in August 2018. While inclusive of diverse participants, the movement was sparked by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish girl who was 15 at the time. Noteworthy leaders in various countries, such as Luisa Neubauer in Germany, Disha Ravi in India, and Hilda Flavia Nakabuye in Uganda, exemplify young women in pivotal roles, significantly contributing to the movement’s national impact. Fridays for Future activists wield moral influence on policymakers, urging them to prioritise scientific insights and implement robust measures to combat global warming. Their advocacy specifically calls for policies aligned with the Paris Agreement, aiming for a pathway well below 2°C. A significant milestone occurred during the Global Week for Future in September 2023, with an estimated four million participants, marking one of the largest climate strikes in recorded history.

Spotlight on Female Indigenous Activism

Within the sphere of climate activism, a notable subset includes activists from indigenous communities. Despite constituting only 5% of the global population, indigenous communities play a crucial role in safeguarding 80%of the world’s biodiversity, rendering them indispensable actors in climate protection strategies. Taily Terena from Brazil stands out as a significant female indigenous activist, advocating for indigenous women’s rights and environmental causes. As a member of the “Enlace Continental de Mujeres Indígenas” (Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas), she has delivered powerful speeches at the United Nations Framework Convention, highlighting the intersection of indigenous rights and environmental stewardship.