A Working Directory to Issues, Networks and Initiatives
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IDRC - Lib. GENDER, ENVIRONIN IENT AND HEALTH: A Working Directory to Issues, Networks_ and Initiatives Edited by: Janet Hatcher Roberts Compiled by: Tina Guthrie Thembi Silundika-Kamanga Geeta Narayan Ioanna Sahas Jeea Saraswati With assistance from: Vanessa Cumming IDRC QRDI WHO v,.a C A N A 0 A October 1995 It To obtain a copy of this document, please contact: Janet Hatcher-Roberts Senior Program Specialist, Health Policy International Development Research Centre 250 Albert Street P.O. Box 8500, Ottawa, Canada K1G 3H9 Fax: (613)567-7748 Internet: [email protected] r There will be a charge of $45.00 CDN for the directory to' cover printing and postage. Persons from developing countries will be charged $25.00 CDN. CONTENTS Acknowledgements Tab 1 Introduction Tab 2 Discussion Papers Tab 3 Policy Issues: Gender, Environment and Health Tab 4 Global Policy Recommendations Tab 5 International and National Initiatives and Responses Tab 6 Advocacy, Research and Field Studies Tab 7 Networks, Centres and Researchers: A Directory Tab 8 A Guide to the United Nations System, Regional Organizations and Development Banks Tab 9 Selected Bibliography Tab 10 Beijing and Beyond ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We greatly appreciate the help of all those who had a hand in this project. Dr. Elizabeth McGregor, founding president of the World Women's Veterinary Association (WWVA), developed the framework for Gender, Environment and Health: A Working Directory to Issues, Networks and Initiatives. The WWVA has published a series of similar directories on gender issues and played an important role in getting this project off the ground. We would like to thank Jacqueline Sims, Dr. Kate Davies and Dr. Bonnie Kettel for their invaluable comments of earlier drafts of this document. Hutoxi Noble assisted in the administration of this project and was an indispensible fountain of information. This project would not have been possible without the financial support of the World.Health Organization (WHO), the Great Lakes Health Effects Project of Health Canada, the Women's Health Bureau of Health Canada, Environment Canada, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). We would also like to thank the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) for translating and distributing the directory. While many people and organizations contributed to this directory, responsibilty for errors or oversights lies with the research team. WOMEN VETERINARIANS ININTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT The World Women s VetainatyAssociation - L Association Mondlale des Femmes Vet&ihaires 181 Fourth Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Kl S 2L5 Tel: 594-9149 Fax: 594-5946 September, 1995 The World Women"s Veterinary Association extends congratulations to the collaborating agencies including the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, the Canadian federal government Departments Health Canada and Environment Canada, Non-Government Organizations and the coordinating lead of the International Development Research Centre in the sponsorship and publication of this "Guidebook". This is the fourth in a series of five guidebooks initiated by the World Women"s Veterinary Association in collaboration with inter-governmental, non-governmental and government agencies. Others in the series include; Gender in Science and Technology for Sustainable andEquitable Development A Working Guide to Issues, Networks and Initiatives Indigenous and Local Community Knowledge in Animal Health and Production Systems GenderPerspectives Microenterprises for Sustainable and Equitable Development- Gender Perspectives A Working Guide to Issues, Networks and Initiatives Women and Youth in Agriculture A Worhng Guide to Issues, Networks and Initiatives researched and published with partners including the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). As the momentum of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women and its "Platform for Action" carries forward from Beijing into implementation and action, we hope that this Guidebook will stimulate fresh commitment and action at the critical interface of gender, health and the environment. Dr. Elizabeth McGregor Founding President & International Liaison World Women's Veterinary Association Introduction I Introduction IDRC Photo Gender, Environment and Health - A Directory Introduction INTRODUCTION Gender, Environment and Health - A Working Directory to Issues, Networks and Initiatives is a collaborative effort to bring together a growing resource base of policies, national and community-based studies and activities, organizations and researchers within the field of gender, environment and health. Its purpose is both to encourage and facilitate future initiatives and partnerships in this crucial area by bringing together successful examples of previous and on-going actions. , This directory itself is a result of a fruitful partnership between the World Women's Veterinary Association (WWVA), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Canada, and Environment Canada. It continues a series of publications by WWVA and other partners on gender issues: Gender in Science and Technology for Sustainable and Equitable Development Volumes One and Two (IDRC, WWVA, 1993); Indigenous and Local Community Knowledge in Animal Health and Production Systems - Gender Perspectives (WWVA, IICA, WCIP, 1994); Gender and Micro-Enterprise (WWVA, UNEP, 1995). While concern for environmental degradation and the situation of women worldwide has been a local, national and international issue for well over two decades, concern for the impact of environmental degradation on women's health is a newly-emerging field of research and activity. Spurred by the 1992 Earth Summit and the Global Commission on Women's Health established by the World Health Organization, the interface of gender, environment and health issues is a rapidly growing policy area for governments, national and international agencies, research institutes and NGOs. The issues and challenges in gender, environment and health, however, are not new. Marginalized in many parts of the world economically, politically, and socially, women are on the front lines of environmental degradation in their home and work spaces. Environmental conditions such as indoor air pollution from the use of biomass fuels in open stoves, exposure to pesticides and industrial pollution and unsanitary water significantly increase the susceptibility of women to chronic and acute health conditions. In spite of this, there is a paucity of gender-disaggregated information that demonstrates the differential impact of environmental degradation on women. Gender-specific research is needed, Gender, Environment and Health - A Directory Introduc7ion information must be disseminated and action must be taken at all levels to address this issue. One area of critical importance is policy-making. Past approaches of 'add gender and stir ' are no longer adequate, if they ever were. In an area as complex as this, policy must be formulated from an innovative and multidisciplinary perspective. Because gender, environment and health have traditionally been three separate fields, and yet are now becoming recognized as having high degrees of overlap, there is strong need to devise policy that recognizes both the history and continuing evolution of this interface. Women have a central role to play in this process. The road ahead for gender, environment and health issues is full of potential. There is a long and full history of Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) research and activism. The ecofeminist movement is rich and flourishing and increasing attention is being focused at all levels on the relationship between environmental degradation and health. By bringing together available information and initiatives, Gender, Environment and Health - A Working Directory will lay the foundation for future networking and partnerships. It will serve as an invaluable resource document for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and will be a 'roadpost' to the future of gender, environment and health issues. Gender, Environment and Health - A Directory Discussion Papers H Discussion Papers Gender, Environment and Health - A Directory Discussion Papers DISCUSSION PAPERS The discussion papers will present the conceptual challenge of "Gender, Health and Environment. " It will explore linkages between these issues and highlight the differential impact on women. Authors include: Vandana Shiva Michael Paolisso Bonnie Kettel Gender, Environment and Health - A Directon Discussion Papers Overview Although much is written on gender, environment and health as separate issues, it is only recently that the conceptual linkages among the issues have begun to be explored. Their interconnections at different levels and the resulting implications for policy, programming and community action are emerging as an important field of research and analysis. The following three discussion papers, written by Vandana Shiva, Michael Paolisso, and Bonnie Kettel examine different aspect of the connections between gender, environment and health issues. Shiva situates gender, environment and health within the international environmental regime, critiquing many of that regime's tenets. Paolisso, through a