Women and the Environment
The chapter evaluates the critical role that women play in managing natural resources. The extent of the women’s capabilities to manage resources is assessed at the family and community levels. The chapter recognizes that women are essential in creating sustainable security, peace, and development in contemporary societies. This is because women are the leading resource managers at the family and societal levels in almost all parts of the world. As a result, their engagement is crucial in providing remedies essential to addressing instances of climate change. A fundamental concept put forth in the chapter is that women are productive resource managers in all societies. The chapter demonstrates this by emphasizing that women, especially those from developing nations, assume the overall responsibility for managing and conserving the already degrading resources.
The reading further addresses this concept by pointing out that women always spend most of their time storing water, food, and fuel while managing land effectively. This puts forth the idea that societies depend on women, considering they are also the primary caregivers to the sick, elderly, and children. The chapter underscores that increased knowledge of women on aspects of biodiversity is crucial to supplying communities with ideas on crop rotation, medication, and nutritional balance for their family members (Aragon & Miller, 2012). This knowledge allows women to feed the majority of the world’s population, particularly in rural areas in developing nations in Asia and Africa. The concept of women being resource managers is also evident in the idea that despite women being denied direct control over land in most societies, they are able to find ways to produce to feed their respective families.
Rights of the Girl Child
It addresses the leading issues that the girl child goes through in contemporary societies. It begins by pointing out that in several communities worldwide, the girl child is often denied crucial rights, including their basic needs such as education. These issues always put these vulnerable groups and their future at risk. Overall, it highlights that most girls are denied rights and privileges like full family participation, constant exploitation, social and cultural life, and their inability to reach their full potential. A leading concept explored by the author is the issue of child marriage. It determines that as a predominant human rights violation in most regions like the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, child marriage is a common problem that has not been explored with the seriousness it deserves.
Child marriage involves a situation where girls as young as seven years are forced to get married. Recent data by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) concluded that in countries like Mali, Bangladesh, Chad, and the Central African Republic of the Congo, more than sixty percent of girls are forced to marry before getting to eighteen years old (Aragon & Miller, 2012). These figures demonstrate that child marriage is a crucial problem that needs to be addressed to protect women. The chapter argues that practical strategies are already in place in different nations to address the issue. For instance, Ethiopia is striving to stop genital multination, and China is enacting policies to eliminate discrimination, abuse, and early marriages in its society to ensure equality among women.
Reference
Aragon, J., & Miller, M. (2012). Global women’s issues: Women in the world today, extended version.