On the eve of International Women’s Day celebrated on March 8, CABAR.asia held an expert meeting titled “Women’s Role in the Environmental Movement in Central Asian Countries”. During the meeting, female experts and activists of the environmental movement from four Central Asian countries discussed women’s role in environmental activities and adaptation to changes occurring due to environmental problems on Earth.
The experts and leaders of environmental movements in their countries, including eco-activist from Kazakhstan, manager of the Ecological Society “Green Salvation” Svetlana (Kharitonova) Spatar, director of the Centre for Human Development, eco-activist with a background of work in government and non-government organisations in Kyrgyzstan Kalia Moldagazieva, eco-activist, trainer, and consultant on environmental education from Tajikistan Natalia Idrisova, and eco-activist from Uzbekistan, founder of the “Ekolog.Uz” website Nargiz Kosimova, spoke about the women’s eco-activism in the countries of the region and about the main problems they face.
It is generally accepted that women are the most vulnerable category of the world’s population to the consequences of climate change, said expert meeting moderator and IWPR Central Asia Editor Lola Olimova.
“Is this true and is it possible to implement changes for improving conditions on our planet today without women’s participation, without their knowledge and efforts? To what extent are women in Central Asian countries involved in these processes? What challenges do they face in these and other issues?” she asked.
According to Svetlana Spatar, who has been working on environmental issues for more than 25 years, there are definitely more women in the public environmental movement in Kazakhstan, and they are more active.
She noted that in Kazakhstan, it is clearly visible that in general, there are many more women than men involved in social movements, regardless of their strategies.
“I work in two public organisations and there are more women than men there. I am a member of public initiatives, where, again, there are more women, oddly enough, and they, again, deal with various issues, not only ecology. We always noticed it, saw it, always discussed it. This is probably due, first, to the fact that women […] worry about their surroundings, about their family, about their children more. Environmental issues directly affect our children. We always think […] a little further: not only about feeding our child right now and meeting the child’s basic needs but also about what will happen in the future. It is great the child is fed but what kind of air does she breathe, what kind of water does she drink?” she said.
Svetlana Spatar noted that they, as the representatives of civil society, constantly raise questions and problems related to the environment.
“Our country, Kazakhstan, signed the Aarhus Convention, which gives us the right to receive information about the environment and the right to participate in the decision-making process in environmental matters. Therefore, we demand to exercise this right. It does not always work out well, however, in general, it works,” she said and gave several examples.
Kalia Moldagazieva spoke about the situation in Kyrgyzstan. She noted that the women’s non-governmental movement was created a long time ago in Kyrgyzstan. There are actually more women’s organisations or organisations led by women than those led by men.
“Women take an active position because, first, they are mothers, and second, they really care about the future generations of our countries,” she said.
She spoke about several initiatives promoted by women eco-activists.
“For example, glacier protection law. Our organisation, and I, in particular, as an expert, are promoting this draft law both through the Jogorku Kenesh [the Parliament – Tr.] and through the government, however, so far, it is at the consideration stage. We do not know when it will finally be adopted. This draft law is very important not only for Kyrgyzstan but for the Central Asian countries in general. We have a common water system. Ecology, obviously, has no boundaries, and therefore, we must take care of a healthy environment in the whole of Central Asia,” she said.
Kalia Moldogazieva said she was a member of several initiatives, including the Green Alliance of Kyrgyzstan, which unites more than 50 organisations, through which female activists promote various projects.
“For example, right now, the topic of Issyk-Kul is considered very closely. […] In Issyk-Kul, a resort area, a territory of the biosphere of the Issyk-Kul region, they want to start developing uranium deposits. Naturally, we speak out, I spoke out about this. We should see the position of the Parliament, how it will react to this,” she said.
“On the one hand, the country is rich in clean water and sunny days and on the other hand, we have various mineral reserves. Both the government and private companies want to develop them. On the one hand, they are guided by the fact that this will create a large number of jobs, increase income and the budget but on the other hand, they, of course, violate the environment, pollute water and air. In Bishkek, in particular, there were also several problems. Over the past few years, we have suffered from smog. The situation improves a little, then worsens again. That is, every day I look at air pollution indicators and they change in Bishkek. One day, it can be a sufficient indicator but the next day, it gets worse. That is, there are many problems we are struggling with, considering, and giving our proposals about,” said Kalia Moldogazieva.
The expert from Kyrgyzstan expressed concern that meanwhile, during the last 2-3 years, democratic backsliding and increasing pressure on the civil sector have been observed in the country. The government has passed several laws narrowing the scope of activities of NGOs and media.
“… NGOs – their mission is completely different. We want an improvement in society, an improvement in the environment and ecological situation. But now, in two readings, the Jogorku Kenesh, our Parliament, has adopted amendments to the law on non-governmental organisations. If the third reading passes, this law on NGOs will be finally adopted. We do not know yet what will happen next,” she said with concern.
Natalia Idrisova said that the situation in Tajikistan is significantly different from neighbouring countries, because in Tajikistan, in general, any marches, rallies, or public gatherings are prohibited. There are several reasons for this.
“Therefore, the best we, in general, can do is to organise some very, very small local events that were pre-approved by, for example, some educational institution. In schools, universities, or, maybe, supermarkets. We have repeatedly organised certain events against plastic bags,” she said.
In general, civil society is quite immature, Idrisova believes. First, this is due to the poor quality of environmental education.
“It is very difficult to motivate them [civil society – Tr.] to do something if they do not understand why it is needed. Activism is not about criticism but more about constructive suggestions,” says Natalia Idrisova.
Some laws need to be changed, as the expert believes. The world is changing rapidly, the climate is changing, and a lot of urgent new changes appear that are necessary and must be applied. The Central Asian countries have very similar problems.
“In problems with both the mining industry and air quality, we are very close. We understand very well that there are many problems in Almaty, Bishkek, and Dushanbe. We have very similar problems with smog, air quality, melting glaciers, agriculture, overgrasing of pastures. These are the huge challenges that we face. Unfortunately, we do not have a sense of unity among the population, among the general audience.
Therefore, we have very few civil society activists. Recently, we all know that our social media are often blocked.
That is, addressing a large audience is also quite difficult. Finding information is difficult. For any kind of activism, for some specific environmental measures, data is needed. We also have a big problem with data. That is, finding information, even receiving comments from the relevant ministries is a big problem for us,” Idrisova said.
She highlighted the large gap existing between the urban and rural populations.
“We all know very well about the internet coverage we have. We know that in many remote rural districts, there is still no internet coverage. Many villages do not even have electrical power. People there, of course, face completely different problems of survival on a daily basis. They live there in mountainous areas, they have mudflows, floods, they have droughts, they need to survive, feed their family every day. It is clear that, in general, they are not concerned by the global environmental problems that affect the entire country. And it is very, very difficult to communicate with them,” she said.
Nargiz Kosimova, an environmental activist from Uzbekistan, spoke about the problems they face. She noted big changes in solving environmental problems because in 2019, an Environmental Party was registered that has been working for five years now. However, the problems with ecofeminism remain.
“I listened to Natalia, I listened to the previous speaker. It seems to me that we have the same problems in the environmental sphere. What is the problem? It is ecofeminism. Last year, together with the Centre for Women’s Protection of Jizzakh Region and the Civic Initiatives Support Centre of Karakalpakstan, we conducted a survey among 193 women (30% of them were women with disabilities) to find out whether climate change affects gender-based violence. Unfortunately, 72% of respondents confirmed it. What causes the problem? There were several issues. For example – we have almost the same problems as Tajikistan does – women do everything in the villages and rural areas, and, accordingly, it is mainly women who struggle with environmental problems. Why? Because they have to provide the family with water, fuel, plant trees, and so on. The lack of water, for example, land degradation, deforestation have a negative impact on their lives,” said Nargis Kosimova.
Based on her experience working on international projects as a gender expert, she said she found that environmental activists are concentrated only in large cities in five regions of the country.
“There are none in the districts, absolutely none, and, to be honest, this upsets me. When I started talking to people, for example, asked them if a certain active woman was an environmental activist, they would say no, she was not an environmental activist, she was just an entrepreneur. Basically, I spoke with women farmers, women entrepreneurs but they knew almost nothing about environmental problems, that is, they were only focused on earning money. In addition, they do not even think about their activities but certain types of their activities have a negative impact on the environment,” she said.
The experts spoke about measures undertaken by their countries to change the situation for the better and what else needs to be done. As recommendations, they suggested introducing educational programs on climate change and the environment into the schools’ and universities’ curricula.
“Of course, environmental education and environmental awareness are highly important. Here, I probably would not even differentiate between men and women. The problems of climate change, environmental problems, problems such as air pollution, water pollution, they do not divide us, people, by how they will affect us depending on gender,” said Svetlana Spatar.
Watch the full recording of the expert meeting here.