Women Today
Gender and Climate Change in Bhutan with a Focus on
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Priority Area:
Agriculture
The extent to which people are affected by climate

industry, agriculture, transport, and waste are largely

change has much to do with their socio-economic status,

responsible. The climate change effects include extreme

gender, power dynamics, and access to and control overspells of hot or cold weather, melting of glaciers,

assets and resources. Despite recognition globally on

increased flooding including Glacial Lake Outburst

the differential impacts, experiences, and skills men

Floods (GLOFs), landslides, and wildfires.

and women bring to environmental and climate related
efforts, women still have lesser economic, political, and

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan enacted

legal clout and are less able to cope with the changing

in 2008 provides the overall legal framework forclimate. As such, drawing from women’s experience,

women’s empowerment. It also recognizes ratified

knowledge as well as skills and enhancing empowerment

international treaties such as the Convention on theefforts would result in more effective climate change

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

responses.

Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of theChild (CRC) as deemed law of the Kingdom. TheIn December 2015, the Paris Agreement to the UN

philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) is

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

integral to Bhutan’s growth process and it strives towas adopted, which was a major breakthrough forcreate an environment wherein every man, woman, andgender equality in the context of climate change. The

child is included and benefits from development andParisgrowth.

Agreement

mandates

genderresponsive

adaptation actions and capacity building activities, andNotwithstanding the strong and favorable legal andArticle 4, paragraph 2 requires each party/country to
successive

policy framework, the journey for gender equality andnationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it

women’s empowerment in Bhutan has not been an easy

intends to achieve.

one. While considered as a country where women enjoy

prepare,communicate,andmaintainrelative freedom and equality in many spheres of life,
Bhutan is a small landlocked Himalayan country

the Bhutanese woman is not without her share ofsituated between China to its North and India to its

problems. The status of women in Bhutan is influenced

west, south, and east. The country has committed

by socio-cultural perceptions that generally hold women

51.44% of its total land area as protected areas andas less confident, capable, and strong, and thus moreconnecting

Constitution

vulnerable than men. This has influenced women’s

mandates that at least 60% of the country be maintained

access to land ownership, education (particularly

under forest cover at all times; the current forest

beyond secondary level), lower rates of employment andcoverage is indeed 70.46%. Bhutan is a net sink ofgender payment gaps, low representation in publicgreenhouse gases (GHGs) because of its large forest

decision-making, and higher rates of gender-based

cover, low levels of industrial activity, and almost all its

violence and violence against women. A greater

electricity generated by hydropower. This extensive

challenge is presented as gender gaps in Bhutan thatcoverage contributes to the fact that Bhutan is carbon

are to do with more subdued and indirect forms ofneutral, with negative net GHG emission. The country’s

gender bias.

biologicalcorridors.

The

goal is to stay carbon neutral far into the future, as is
also

reflected

inits

Nationally

The country has initiated mainstreaming gender

Determined

into climate sectors in order to enable gender-responsive

Contributions (NDCs) of 2015.

climate actions. It is recognized that the impacts ofHowever, there has been a 33% rise in GHG

climate change are experienced by the poorest and mostemissions between 2000-2015 , and sectors such as

vulnerable sections of the population, and in general1

women bear the brunt due to existing gender disparities

1 Royal Government of Bhutan, 2020, Third GHG Inventory,
National Environment Commission (NEC).

No.88 August 2020and socio-cultural norms. An analysis of one of the1

Pro fileObtained a Master in Public Policy from the Lee Kuan
Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), National
University of Singapore.
Director of the National Commission for
Women and Children, Royal Governmentof Bhutan

Started career in 1994 at the Gross National HappinessCommission, Royal Government of Bhutan. Field ofexperience includes: socio-economic development
planning and policy formulation; research andevaluation; population, environmental, and poverty
analysis; gender analysis and mainstreaming; andpromoting and protecting the rights of women andchildren. Currently serves as the Board Director of
Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women(RENEW, a CSO in Bhutan); Board Director of theInternational Organization for Collaborative Outcome
Management (IOCOM); Governing Board Member for
the South Asian Initiative for Ending Violence Against
Children (SAIVAC); and Chairperson of the Gender
Expert Group in Bhutan.

Kunzang Lhamu
NDC priority sectors, agriculture, is outlined below tobetter understand climate change and its impact ongender dynamics.

Agriculture, Gender, and Climate Change
More than 60% of Bhutan’s population resides inrural areas and are engaged in crop and livestock
production and forest use. The agricultural sector
emitted 32.4% of total GHG emissions in 2015 and isextension services. Furthermore, it is critical to provide

itself extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate

women with access to sustainable technologies, inputs,change. Loss of agro-biodiversity and of agricultural

credit and financial services for CSA/CRA, and accessland, increase in human-wildlife conflicts, and farmtolabor shortages are major challenges faced. The

Gender-responsive initiatives need to be implemented

feminization of agriculture is taking place due to malethrough the promotion of awareness and the equal

out-migration. According to the Population and Housing

participation of women in CSA/CRA activities. Their

Census of Bhutan 2017, 60% of employed women were

full involvement in the development and implementation

engaged in agriculture as compared to 34% of men. Ourofrecent study with UNDP2 shows that female tasks

activities is imperative.

agro-meteorologicalagricultural

GHG

and

climatemitigation

andinformation.

adaptation

include the collection of drinking water and householdcare while males are responsible for the irrigation

While gender-responsive climate actions are awater, off-farm employment, decision making, andrecent initiative for Bhutan, with an approved gender-

attending meetings. Both males and females are

mainstreamed Climate Change Policy 2019 and efforts

engaged in agriculture-related cottage and small

underway for a gender-responsive Climate Promise

industries. Women in Bhutan perform 71% of the unpaid

Work plan (NDC 2), the prospects are bright.

household and care work3, and because of the distinct
gender roles, women are more vulnerable and lessinformed on climate change. More males than females
are aware of, participated in, and have access to
information, training, and inputs on climate-smart andclimate-resilient agriculture (CSA/CRA). There is needto strengthen the voice and participation in decisionmaking roles of women in agriculture-related climatechange actions and to integrate gender issues morestrongly into agricultural policies, plans, and programs.
Gender-responsive, climate-smart and resilient
agriculture must be promoted through enhancing
women’s access to and control over productive resources
such as land, agro-biodiversity, livestock, labor, and2 Royal Government of Bhutan, Gender and Climate Change in
Bhutan, National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC)
and UNDP, 2020.
3 Royal Government of Bhutan, Accounting for Unpaid Care Workin Bhutan, NCWC and ADB, 2019.

A woman in Samtse District fetching drinking waterfrom a distant source2

No.88 August 2020

Current Issues Series
Climate Crisis and Gender (Part 1)
Pro file

Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, Senior Fellow of the Institute of Global
Environmental Strategies (IGES), Chairman of the Japan Society for GNH Studies. Before
holding these positions, worked at several institutions including the Ministry ofEnvironment of Japan, the Environment Directorate of the OECD, United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and as Professor of Global
Environmental Policy at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies of Kyoto
University. Major research areas are sustainability studies as well as climate change
policies and global environmental policies from the viewpoint of environmental governance.

Kazuo Matsushita
1. Vision of the world as envisioned by theParis Agreement and the SDGs

2. Climate crisis and human rights: genderequality as the basis of measures against
climate change“We are the first generation to be affected by climatechange and the last to be able to deal with it.”

“Climate change is a human rights issue, and humanrights and gender equality are the cornerstones ofclimate change measures.”(Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General)

Climate change is advancing rapidly, and the effects
such as temperature rise, frequent extreme weather
events such as typhoons and heavy rains, and sea level
rise are accelerating and becoming apparent all over theworld.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, setsambitious long-term goals for global climate change
mitigation, builds a framework that calls for developed
countries to take the lead, and simultaneously includes
the participation of all developing countries.
The Paris Agreement aims to keep the averagetemperature rise in the world well below 2℃ compared tobefore the Industrial Revolution, and even to pursue
efforts to limit it to 1.5℃. For this reason, in the latter halfof this century, we have to attain the goal of “Net Zero
Emission,” which offsets the world’s anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions with anthropogenic absorption.
This is a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fromhuman activities to virtually zero, which requires a
drastic economic and social shift to a non-fossil fuelcivilization. The Paris Agreement marks the beginning of
the end of the civilization dependent on fossil fuel.
On the other hand, the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015 consist of 17
goals, 169 targets, and 230 indicators that demand an
integrated response to the following three aspects:
economic development, social inclusion, and environmental
protection. Setting a core concept of “leaving no one
behind,” it calls for ending poverty, fighting inequality, andaddressing environmental issues such as climate change.
A new vision for the SDGs and the Paris Agreement is
to put an end to poverty, sustain the use of natural
resources within a sustainable range, and improve theenvironment while advancing social infrastructure that
respects basic human rights and within the boundaries of
the Earth system. It is a society in which all people onearth are able to sustainably improve their well-being in a
sphere that is safe and socially fair from the viewpoint ofbasic human rights.

No.88 August 2020

(Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland;
former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

Climate change is a human rights issue because it
damages the livelihoods and health of people all over theworld. It also forces them to lose their homes in the face ofdroughts and floods. The biggest victims of climate change
are not those in developed countries that created its maincause. Rather, they are the people living in developing andin the least developed countries, especially women.
Climate change has a major impact on people who
depend on natural resources and who lack the capacity tocope with natural disasters such as typhoons, droughts,
and floods. The impact of climate change is greater for
people living in poverty, of whom the majority are women.
Moreover, only a few women are leaders in policymaking at
the national level. This unequal participation in decisionmaking processes further exacerbates gender inequality
and hinders women’s contribution to climate-relatedplanning, policymaking, and implementation.
Still, women can play an important role in responding
to climate change. In fact, they are the actors of sustainable
resource management in the home and community.
Meaningful participation of women in policymaking
enables better response to the needs of civil society,strengthens cross-party and ethnic cooperation, andbrings sustainable peace. Conversely, policies and projects
implemented without women’s meaningful participation
can increase inequality and reduce effectiveness.
The concept of gender was included for the first time in
the preamble of the Paris Agreement. The Gender Action
Plan (GAP) adopted by the 23rd Conference of the Parties
to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (COP23) in 2017 emphasized the need for gendermainstreaming in climate action. It calls for greater
representation of women in ministers, governments, andnational delegations at the international fora. It is hopedthat the means for mainstreaming gender (finance,technology development and transfer, capacity building)will be strengthened and steadily implemented.

3

COVID-19 and the Impact on WomenOn March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to
be a pandemic. Accordingly, measures are being taken in each country in order to respond to
the pandemic in their own context. KFAW’s website introduces some of such gender-focused
COVID-19 response initiatives implemented across the world.
Among them is the United Nations Policy Brief announced on April 9, 2020. Quoted below
is an excerpt from its introduction, which demonstrates the stance of the United Nations on
the impact of COVID-19 on women as well as the priorities for response measures.

This policy brief focuses on each of these issues inturn, exploring how women and girls’ lives are changing
in the face of COVID19, and outlining suggested priority
measures to accompany both the immediate response
and longer-term recovery efforts.

The year 2020, marking the twenty-fifth anniversaryof the Beijing Platform for Action, was intended to be
ground-breaking for gender equality. Instead, with the
spread of the COVID-19 pandemic even the limited gains
made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back.
The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities,
exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic
systems which are in turn amplifying the impacts of thepandemic.

COVID-19 is not only a challenge for global healthsystems, but also a test of our human spirit. Recovery
must lead to a more equal world that is more resilient tofuture crises. Fiscal stimulus packages and emergency
measures to address public health gaps have been put inplace in many countries to mitigate the impacts of
COVID-19. It is crucial that all national responses place
women and girls - their inclusion, representation, rights,
social and economic outcomes, equality and protectionat their centre if they are to have the necessary impacts.
This is not just about rectifying long-standing inequalities
but also about building a more just and resilient world. It
is in the interests of not only women and girls but also
boys and men. Women will be the hardest hit by thispandemic but they will also be the backbone of recovery
in communities. Every policy response that recognizes
this will be the more impactful for it.

Across every sphere, from health to the economy,
security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19
are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of
their sex:
> Compounded economic impacts are felt especially by
women and girls who are generally earning less, saving
less, and holding insecure jobs or living close topoverty.
> While early reports reveal more men are dying as aresult of COVID-19, the health of women generally isadversely impacted through the reallocation of
resources and priorities, including sexual andreproductive health services.

To achieve this, the policy brief emphasizes threecross-cutting priorities:> Unpaid care work has increased, with children outof-school, heightened care needs of older persons andoverwhelmed health services.

1) 
Ensure women’s equal representation in all
COVID-19 response planning and decision
making. […]> A s the COVID-19 pandemic deepens economic andsocial stress coupled with restricted movement andsocial isolation measures, gender-based violence isincreasing exponentially. Many women are being
forced to ‘lockdown’ at home with their abusers at thesame time that services to support survivors are being
disrupted or made inaccessible.

2) Drive transformative change for equality byaddressing the care economy, paid and unpaid.
[…]3) Target women and girls in all efforts to address
the socio-economic impact of COVID 19. […]Quoted from “The Impact of COVID-19 on Women.” United Nations.
Policy Brief. April 9, 2020. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/
files/policy_brief_on_covid_impact_on_women_9_april_2020.pdf> All of these impacts are further amplified in contexts offragility, conflict, and emergencies where social
cohesion is already undermined and institutional
capacity and services are limited.

4

No.88 August 2020

Gender Mainstreaming Policies for
Government Officers 2019 [Course B] (Winter 2020)

KFAW offers a training program on “Gender
Mainstreaming Policies for Government Officers” foradministrative officials from developing countries twice ayear, under a contract with the Japan International
Cooperation Agency’s Kyushu Center (JICA Kyushu).

in a senior care facility. The presentation session contributed
to broadening the perspective of the participants as well asof the KFAW staff.
At the end of the training program, one of the participantsfrom Fiji commented that gender perspectives are notsomething special that should be considered on its own, butrather, they must be taken into account in all major projects
and be considered continuously in all project stages ofplanning, implementation, and assessment. This comment
indicates the potential of the paired training as an effectivemeans of promoting gender mainstreaming in a broad rangeof fields.

Since 2019-2020, this training has been carried out as apaired training with representatives from national
machineries in each country (i.e., ministries, agencies, andorganizations promoting gender equality) and administrative
officers from other governmental agencies. The second
training in 2019-2020 was held from January 16 to February
12, 2020, with nine participants from five countries andregions: Chile, Egypt, Palestine, Fiji, and the Maldives.

KFAW will continue to address gender issues inpartnership with participants of the JICA training program.

The training itself consists of a broad curriculum that
includes lectures, field visits, workshops, and presentations.
The content of the lectures covers a wide range of topics,
including education, law, disasters, agriculture, budgeting,and media. The objective of the program is to promote gendermainstreaming in a cross-sectoral way by taking ample time
for discussion issues and challenges faced in order to allow
participants to gain an understanding of in other countries
and learn from each other’s ideas and opinions.
During the training period, the participants learned astrategic method for problem solving called the Project Cycle
Management (PCM) and applied it to create action plans to
be undertaken after returning home. On the final day of the
training program, the participants presented their actionplans and received feedback from experts. The plansincluded unique initiatives ranging from budgeting andinfrastructure to a project to build a safe shelter for women

No.88 August 2020

5

KFAW International Understanding Seminar

Open Communication: Beyond Nations and Gender
Government officials from around the world who were in Japan for the JICA gender training program wereinvited to take part in a seminar where they could talk freely with local residents about the issue of gender andan ideal livable society for all.
Date & Time: February 9, 2020 13:00-16:00
Venue: Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality Center MOVE, 5F Large Seminar Room
Program: 【Part 1】 ・ Presentations on gender and the SDGs by students from the University of Kitakyushu			・ Relay talk by government officials introducing themselves and their countries
		【Part 2】 World Café (30 minutes x 2 rounds)			
Topics ① Familiar episodes related to gender			② What constitutes a gender-equal society for all
Panelists: Participants etc. of the JICA training on Gender Mainstreaming Policies for
Government Officers 2019 [Course B] (10 participants from 5 countries)
Participants: 82 (including 25 men)
Following presentations on gender issues in different
countries by two groups of students from the University of
Kitakyushu and government officials, all participants weredivided into groups where they exchanged ideas and opinions
freely with the government officials in a “world café” format.
The first round of discussion was held on the topic of“familiar episodes related to gender.” The discussion
generated common remarks among multiple countries suchas “stereotypes that women should take care of houseworkand children,” the “larger proportion of men in managerial
positions,” and “pressure on women in their early twenties tomarry.”

During the second round,the participants discussed what
constitutes a gender-equal society for all. Some commented
on the need for a “society that recognizes individual
lifestyles, perspectives, and mindsets rather than a simple
framework for men, women, and others” and “education thatcreates a society where roles are not determined based on
physical gender differences and where social gender bias is
not imprinted from early childhood.” In addition, somememorable, down to earth opinions were raised, which
included a remark on the “importance of developing a legal
approach, such as recommendations associated with theratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).”KFAW hopes that this workshop has provided
participants with a better understanding of the SDGs aswell as the current challenges facing gender equality aroundthe world. KFAW will continue with our initiatives toachieve Goal 5 of the SDGs.

Publication of Ajia Jyosei Kenkyu (Studies on Asian Women), Volume 29
Ajia Jyosei Kenkyu is a journal containing studies and research on gender issues in Japan and Asia condutedby visiting researchers from an international perspective. Volume 29 contains the following 3 articles:
1. “Increasing representation of women in local
councils: a comparative study between four
Asian cities” explores measures to increase thenumber of local female legislators in Japan throughquestionnaires and interviews with female city
councilors and their supporters in the four cities ofTaipei, New Taipei, Fukuoka, and Kitakyushu.
Drawing from the introduction of an electoral quota
system in Taipei and New Taipei, where the ratio of
female members is high, the study investigates andanalyzes the differences in the proportion of female
legislators in local elections in these four cities.

2. “ Study on promoting career development for women:
through interview surveys in Fukuoka and Kagoshima
Prefectures” conducted interviews with 14 female workers
residing in the cities of Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima.
An analysis using the TEM (Trajectory Equifinality Model)
reveals how these women build their careers that is moreclosely matched to their intentions
by making active choice on theirworkplaces or positions, while
taking into account challenges suchas career changes, demotion, andbarriers to promotion.

3. “ Support and legal systems for mother and child victims of domestic violence in Japanand Singapore” focuses on support provided to children who have hitherto been positioned
as incidental to their mothers that suffer from domestic abuse and thus whose human rights
have not been respected. This study illustrates how such support is currently made available inJapan and Singapore. Through the examination of Singapore’s efforts to position children as
targets for protection, the study seeks suggestions for how to support victims of domestic
violence in Japan.

KFAW also publishes detailed research reports for each study. Please inquire if you are interested.

6

No.88 August 2020

The 30 Foreign Correspondent Reportth

The Burden of Water
Disha Arora (India)

Pro file
An award-winning feminist documentary filmmaker anddevelopment communications specialist. Committed tochallenging
social systems and ideologies which promote
ISSN 0918-8266
gender-based discrimination. Produces films that highlight the
impact of social structures on women’s rights and tells stories
of women who are re-writing the social narratives to fully
realize their human rights and build a just and peaceful world.

India, where 600 million are affected by water scarcity
every year 1, is also a country deeply divided on the basis ofCaste (a Hindu system of social segregation). Despite the“Right to Equality” enshrined in the Indian Constitution,
Caste has a considerable role to play in determining an
individual’s access to social and economic opportunities. The
Caste structure, a 3000-year old system, even controls which
community would have easier access to artificial and natural
resources until this day. Especially for the marginalized
Dalit (so-called “untouchable”) women living in India, water
is a massive burden they bear every day.
In the country where systems are already skewed on thebasis of gender, the Caste structure has a considerable
impact on the socio-economic status of an Indian woman andthrives on Brahminical patriarchy (Brahmins are the socalled “upper” Caste community). The manifestation of thisform of patriarchy ranges from casual casteism and sexism
to unequal access to healthcare, water, education, and legal
systems to brutal killings, rapes, and complete
dehumanization of Dalit women.

Water vs. Caste Hierarchy
The majority of Dalit
families live in rural India.
They live in areas that areoften furthest from the centerof the village where the water
source is located. Their socalled “untouchability” makes
48.4% of Dalit villages are denied
them ineligible to live in the access to a water source (UN Highprominent areas of the Commission for Human Rights)
village, which are culturally
reserved for “upper” Caste families. With only 27% of Dalithouseholds with a water source (not necessarily fit for
drinking) within their premises, tens of thousands of Dalit
women start their day early in the morning, travel kilometers,
stand in queues for hours to fetch water for their families.
They repeat the same ritual in the evening. Given how
1National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), 2019.
“Composite Water Management Index.” June 10, 2020. https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-08/CWMI-2.0-latest.pdf

ISSN 0918-8266

ISSN 0918-8266

patriarchy has assigned gender roles, the responsibility ofcollecting, using, and saving water falls on women and girls.
Predictably, they suffer from regular backache, joint pain,
and muscle problems. Even their sleep cycles are severely
affected. However, they are usually not even aware of thecause of these health issues.
Additionally, even today, the practice of untouchability
continues unchecked. There are multiple cases of Dalit
women facing violence when they tried accessing water froma public source because they were considered “impure” by theso-called “upper” Caste women and men.

Water Scarcity and Dalit Women
Climate change would
not just manifest in the formof natural disasters. It would
also widen the current
gender-based inequalities.
A report released by the India is ranked 5th in the Global
central government in 2019 Climate Risk Index (2019)
outlines that less rainfall
and groundwater depletion
led to water shortage in 17% of cities and towns across India.
The growing water scarcity due to climate change would
make the situation even worse for the Dalit community,
especially the women. Caste and gender hierarchies make
Dalit women the most vulnerable group in the climatechange pecking order. For instance, the water riots in
Bundelkhand (a drought-prone region in northern India)
forced a Dalit woman to file a police complaint because Dalit
women were beaten up for using government handpumps.

Solutions with Gendered and Caste-based Perspectives
Water is a precious commodity and will be even morevaluable as the world struggles to cope with climate change.
Given this situation, it is essential to take into account thatany particular social issue affects marginalized communities
in more than one way. As governments and internationalorganizations design solutions, they must integrate thegender and Caste-based experiences of Dalit women andinvolve them in every level of decision-making.

The 30th KFAW Foreign Correspondent
In 1991, the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) established a foreign correspondent system tobroadly network with people overseas, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The complete profiles of the past and
Location ofcurrent correspondents are available on our website: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/en/correspondents/index.html.

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Beijing

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