Saturday, November 30, 2013

Climate Change Disproportionately Hurting Pakistan’s Women, Report Finds

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If Pakistan’s coastal region of Sindh is any indication, the adverse effects of climate change in developing countries will not be gender neutral.

The women in Sindh — a province of Pakistan with a population of approximately 42 million – have been socializing less, walking further, and encountering health issues due to shortages in fuel wood and fresh water, according to a report released Thursday by the women’s resource center Shirkat Gah. The shortages, the report said, are undoubtedly due to climate change.

“The changes in weather patterns and intensity of heat and cold have changed working patterns of people, especially female farmers,” Khawar Mumtaz, the chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, told The Express Tribune.  “Substantive cropping was replaced with cash crops.  [The] second shift was from natural fertilizers to chemicals, pesticides and hybrid seeds.  Forests were replaced with banana cultivation, and dams resulted in decrease of fish.”

Climate Change Disproportionately Hurting Pakistan’s Women, Report Finds

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