Self-Employed Women’s Association takes Gujarat villages to Copenhagen
SEWA has improved the living standards of poor women in villages across the state.
Not only Ahmedabad, even the villages of Gujarat got an opportunity to tell an international audience at the recent conference in Copenhagen, what they were doing to mitigate the impact of climate change. And this could be possible largely because of the efforts of the state’s pioneering NGO, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).
While the world is still searching for a globally acceptable agreement on how to fight climate change, Gujarat’s villages have been working with focus for more than a decade on mitigation measures. Their efforts and success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable community development were showcased at the conference through a presentation titled, ‘Our Experiences with Clean Technology and Livelihoods’.
The presentation highlighted the increased use of solar lanterns, water harvesting, vermicompost and biogas, among others, in the state’s villages. A two-member team made this presentation five times before different audiences during the fortnight of the conference.
SEWA was invited by the International Trade Union Congress to talk about its work in the area of climate change mitigation before an international group. The group comprised heads of governments, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs from all over the globe.
“Our team got very good response from the people who had come to participate in the climate change conference,” said Reema Nanavati, director of economic and rural development at SEWA.
“Some of our initiatives are likely to be replicated in other countries as well. The message that rural Gujarat has sent is that our resources may be few, but we still care for the environment and we can make a difference.” SEWA has a two-pronged approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation - creating awareness and constructing demonstrative models. “We have linked climate change to livelihoods, which is at the heart of all our activities,” Nanavati said.
In the energy sector, villages are using solar lanterns and cooking stoves, and are even generating electricity with the use of biogas.
For waste management, they have turned to vermicomposting and turn their scrap into organic fertilizer which is later used in farming. Rainwater harvesting, watershed management and creation of a ‘blue fund’ are among the several measures taken by the state’s villages. Some villages are actively mapping their energy usage and have also started energy banking facilities.
“The purpose of the presentation was to make rural women’s contribution to protecting the environment known to the world,” Nanavati said. “These initiatives and techniques can be adapted anywhere to improve livelihoods. The industrialised nations make a big deal out of even the slightest reduction in emissions but, here, it is being done because we care. The world needs to recognize the tiny or micro-contribution of rural poor women in reducing carbon footprint.”
While the world is still searching for a globally acceptable agreement on how to fight climate change, Gujarat’s villages have been working with focus for more than a decade on mitigation measures. Their efforts and success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable community development were showcased at the conference through a presentation titled, ‘Our Experiences with Clean Technology and Livelihoods’.
The presentation highlighted the increased use of solar lanterns, water harvesting, vermicompost and biogas, among others, in the state’s villages. A two-member team made this presentation five times before different audiences during the fortnight of the conference.
SEWA was invited by the International Trade Union Congress to talk about its work in the area of climate change mitigation before an international group. The group comprised heads of governments, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs from all over the globe.
“Our team got very good response from the people who had come to participate in the climate change conference,” said Reema Nanavati, director of economic and rural development at SEWA.
“Some of our initiatives are likely to be replicated in other countries as well. The message that rural Gujarat has sent is that our resources may be few, but we still care for the environment and we can make a difference.” SEWA has a two-pronged approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation - creating awareness and constructing demonstrative models. “We have linked climate change to livelihoods, which is at the heart of all our activities,” Nanavati said.
In the energy sector, villages are using solar lanterns and cooking stoves, and are even generating electricity with the use of biogas.
For waste management, they have turned to vermicomposting and turn their scrap into organic fertilizer which is later used in farming. Rainwater harvesting, watershed management and creation of a ‘blue fund’ are among the several measures taken by the state’s villages. Some villages are actively mapping their energy usage and have also started energy banking facilities.
“The purpose of the presentation was to make rural women’s contribution to protecting the environment known to the world,” Nanavati said. “These initiatives and techniques can be adapted anywhere to improve livelihoods. The industrialised nations make a big deal out of even the slightest reduction in emissions but, here, it is being done because we care. The world needs to recognize the tiny or micro-contribution of rural poor women in reducing carbon footprint.”