Women's Human Rights to Water, Food and a Healthy Environment

Although the human rights to water, food and a healthy environment have been incorporated in international legal instruments, in many countries these rights are violated on a massive scale. Women suffer disproportionally, because it is mostly still their role to feed the family and fetch water, but also because they lack decision-making power over the use of natural resources.

This short video takes you to Panna, India, where traditional adivasi women successfully oppose forced evictions. The three part series 'Reality of Mine' gives a voice to women affected by mining in India, Kenya and South Africa. With the support of international NGOs Both ENDS and ActionAid, they have begun to stand up for their rights.

The population of the informal settlement Masakhane, South Africa is highly affected by the pollution and environmental damage caused by the the coal-fired Duvha power station. Before the mining and power station developments, families had access to and control over the land, even if they did not own it. Farming used to be the main source of livelihood. Today, mining companies and investors own most of the land, and as a direct consequence people have lost a lot of their farming and grazing land. This video shows testimonies of victims and their efforts to turn the tide.

In this video we see Maria Mkhatswa, who is claiming the right of her people to have access to clean water, like they had years ago, when the coal mining industry had not yet polluted the whole area. The three part series 'Reality of Mine' gives a voice to women affected by mining in India, Kenya and South Africa. With the support of international NGOs Both ENDS and ActionAid, they have begun to stand up for their rights.

In this video, Trivinia Mwanga Mwamburi from Kenya takes you with in her fight to get the land back which was taken from her because of the expansion of large scale salt mines. The three part series 'Reality of Mine' gives a voice to women affected by mining in India, Kenya and South Africa. With the support of international NGOs Both ENDS and ActionAid, they have begun to stand up for their rights.

As a source of food, water and income, and for their cultural and spiritual meaning, forests and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) help ensure community resilience. Both ENDS has a long history of collaboration with partners such as the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme (NTFP-EP) and Keystone Foundation, which support forest communities in promoting the NTFP concept for forest conservation and livelihood enhancement.

In 2019, Karambot Women's Agriculture Group (Nepal) convinced their municipality to fund its proposed irrigation plan, after they followed a planning and budgeting training. 

Today is International Women's Day. A day originating from women's strikes against poor working conditions in the textile industry, some 100 years ago. Since then, a lot has improved for women but, unfortunately, men and women obviously still don’t have equal rights. In 1949, Simone de Beauvoir already warned that ‘women’s rights will never be vested. You have to stay vigilant your whole life’. Recent developments such as the tightening of abortion laws in some countries confirm this view and show that even in the ‘free West’ women’s rights are still far from self-evident.

Mining often has a huge and devastating impact on the environment, including water, air and forests. It can profoundly affect nearby communities, not only by harming local ecosystems, but also by exacerbating or provoking societal tension. In many places across the globe, women are leading resistance to mining and the 'extractivist' model.

At this year's UN Climate Conference COP27, Bhavya George, Climate Change coordinator of our partner organisation Keystone Foundation won one of the Gender Just Climate Solutions awards. Her project "Women Barefoot Ecologists", which also is supported by the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), won in the category "Transformational Solutions".

Almost five years ago, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) started its journey to bring together the often still quite separate worlds of environmental justice organisations and the women's rights movement. At Both ENDS, Annelieke Douma and Tamara Mohr have been coordinating the GAGGA programme. Together they look back at five years of learning, connecting and enjoying the fruits of this innovative programme.