Gender equality, a game changer for nature
Aban Marker Kabraji, Asia Regional Director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, writes about the importance of gender equality in effective natural resource management.
08 Mar 2017, 9:00 AM
In Fiyoaree, Maldives, Leena wakes up every day just a little before sunrise for her morning prayer. She prepares breakfast for her family and gets her two children, 9-year-old Fathimah and 5-year-old Ahmed, ready for school, which starts at 7:30 a.m. Once she returns home, she tidies her house and takes care of the laundry, before she heads out to her parents’ farm, located 1.5 km away, to help water their vegetables. Approximately two hours later, Leena returns home to prepare lunch for her children.
Throughout the day, she juggles other household duties, including tending to her 4-month-old baby, Moan, while her husband, a fisherman, is out at sea.
At night, after she tucks her children in, Leena spends three hours making mats out of reeds that grow in nearby marshlands and wetlands.
Along with 30 other women in her village, 30-year-old Leena sells these multi-coloured woven mats to a cooperative in the capital, Malé. The co-op then sells the handicrafts to high-end tourist resorts. If the women weave on a regular basis, they can earn up to MVR1,000 (US$65) per month from the activity – which amounts to approximately 30 percent additional income to the average household income in Fiyoaree.
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