Category Archives: Environment

Report finds sexual and reproductive health of women and girls missing from most national climate plans – UNFPA and others

Women and girls are among the hardest hit by the climate emergency, but fewer than one third of countries that have published their climate plans have committed to upholding the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, according to new findings by UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.

The report Taking Stock: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Climate Commitments: A Global Review, is being published and launched in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London and IDRC Canada*. In a global first, the report examines the climate plans of 119 countries and whether they integrate access to contraception, safe birthing, and protecting women and girls from gender-based violence into their adaptation goals. Many countries have made commendable progress in highlighting sexual and reproductive health and rights in their plans; but a majority fall short.

“The climate crisis is not gender-neutral. In those countries most at-risk, women and girls are disproportionately affected even though they have contributed the least to the global climate emergency,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “Highlighting emerging evidence of the impacts of climate change on the health and wellbeing of women and girls – from increased poverty and food insecurity to poorer maternal health outcomes to increased risk of gender-based violence and harmful practices – this review is a timely reminder of why it is so critical that countries prioritize sexual and reproductive health and rights in their climate strategies.”

Key findings include: 

  • 38 out of 119 countries integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights in national climate plans.
  • Many countries recognize the direct and indirect impact of climate change on maternal and newborn health. Heat exposure can increase infant and maternal mortality (South Sudan) and pose risks to pregnant women and those in the process of menopause (Côte d’Ivoire).
  • Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate-crisis-driven food insecurity and malnutrition and they make up the majority of the malnourished in the four countries where famine or famine-like conditions are present, (Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia and South Sudan).
  • Other countries outlined the need to build climate-resilient health systems that can respond to extreme weather events (Paraguay) and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes (Seychelles, Benin).
  • Nine countries include a description of policies or interventions to address the increase in incidence of gender-based violence in the context of climate change (the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Sierra Leone, the Comoros, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Jordan, Tunisia and Guinea).

Part of a longer press release at https://www.unfpa.org/press/unfpa-report-finds-sexual-and-reproductive-health-women-and-girls-missing-most-national

October 19, 2023

Why our pension system delivers lower incomes for women, and how to close the gap – TUC Report

The gender pensions gap

Women in the UK have to get by in retirement on significantly lower incomes than men. Among today’s pensioners women have annual incomes £7,100 a year – or 40.5 per cent – lower than men according to research by Prospect.

The UK is not alone in having high levels of income inequality between men and women in retirement, but our gap is unusually wide. According to the latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development the gender pensions gap in the UK was 40.5 per cent in 2015, compared to an average of 25.6 per cent across all member countries.

And the gender pensions gap in the UK shows no sign of shrinking any time some. It has remained stable over the five years Prospect has been calculating it, and this year’s figure is actually slightly higher than the average gap of 39.6 per cent over this period.

Looking forward, differences in incomes from the state pension have shrunk in recent years and will continue to narrow, although state pensions are not projected to be equal for men and women reaching retirement until 2041.

But there are still extreme differences in the value of pensions built up by men and women below state pension age in their workplace pensions.

Modelling by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) finds that on average women in their early 60s will have built up just a third of the pension wealth as men, with a median pension value of £51,000 for women and £157,000 for men.

Data from the ONS suggests a gap that is smaller, but still significant. According to its Wealth and Assets Survey the median pension wealth for men aged 55-64 who have some pension saving is £228,200 – 50 per cent higher than the median £152,000 built up by women. Although the pensions wealth gap generally increases as people get older, women have lower levels of pension wealth in every age bracket.

TUC analysis has revealed that these differences persist across all industries, with the largest disparities in percentage terms in manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and other service activities, where women typically have less than a fifth of the pension wealth of men. In cash terms, the gaps are largest in the industries dominated by public sector employment like public administration and defence, health and education.

Some groups of women are particularly acutely affected by these disparities, with single mothers and divorced women having lower incomes from private pension wealth on average than women in general.

These large disparities in pension wealth among the working age population show that, without significant policy changes, the retirement income gap will persist for future pensioners.

What causes the gender pensions gap?

There are three main drivers of the gender pensions gap:

  • The gender pay gap, exacerbated by a workplace pension system that excludes many low earners altogether
  • Different lifetime working patterns that mean women are more likely to take time out of the labour market or work part-time, most often because of unpaid caring responsibilities
  • Differing levels of state pension entitlement

To read the full report go to https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/gender-pensions-gap

 

June 26, 2023

Coronavirus: Nobody should lose jobs or pay because their kids’ school is closed – TUC Petition

Bring in emergency time-limited measures to make sure parents don’t lose jobs and pay when their children’s school or nursery has to close.

Why is this important?

We support measures to reduce the spread and impact of coronavirus, but no-one should be out of pocket, or even worse out of a job, for doing the right thing.

When schools and nurseries close for most children, loads of parents will be unable to work because they’ll have to look after their kids. But current parental or dependants’ leave arrangements are too short and in any case mean going without pay – something most people simply can’t afford.

If we want people to follow government health advice, the government has to support parents. And they need to act fast to deal with this emergency. That means:

  • Keeping everyone on full pay, if their kids’ school or childcare closes.
  • Reimbursing employers – just like they do for maternity pay.
  • No-one should be treated unfairly or lose their job because they need to look after their kids.

Let’s support workers in getting us through this epidemic, and make sure no-one loses their job or is pushed into hardship because their kids’ school closes.

Sign the petitions at https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/coronavirus-nobody-should-lose-their-job-because-their-kids-school-is-closed

  • If you’re a working parent and concerned about your own work rights when schools close, find out more where you might stand under the current arrangements here: https://bit.ly/3928WfT

March 30, 2020

Women’s Weeds Day

Come along and find out more about what plants grow locally and how they can be used to promote women’s health. Take part in developing our own physic garden and creating both wild and cultivated areas on the Women’s Workshop site.

June 4, 2018

Create for the Lindisfarne Nature Trail – willow weaving workshops

Local willow sculptor Anna Turnbull and the Northumbria Basketry Group will be running willow weaving workshops once a month for the first half of 2017. A series of up to 12 larger-than-life willow sculptures will be produced to adorn points along the Lindisfarne Nature Trail – find out more about this creative arts project here.
The first willow workshop will take place at 1pm – 5pm on Saturday 21st at the Holy Island Village Hall. Anna is looking for a small group of volunteers to help weave these unique sculptures. No problem if you’ve not done this before – tuition, guidance and all materials will be provided. In tandem with the creation of the sculptures, the Northumbria Basketry Group will be running an introduction to simple basketry techniques – so you can have a go at both! If you can’t make the first, the second workshop will take place on Saturday 25th of February at Hunting Hall Farm (times TBC).
Email Sarah to book you place.

January 16, 2017