Gender issues in mountains

Women and men play key roles with respect to environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas. Women are often the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity and the main actors in terms of agriculture, animal husbandry and other small scale economic activities. In mountain communities, women are keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine.

However, women mountain dwellers are often invisible and their voices go unheard. They rarely participate in decisions affecting the management and use of local resources; they often lack basic rights, have little access to ownership and land tenure rights, education, health services and training. Since women and girls have less access to household resources, they are at a greater risk of hunger and malnutrition.

As men migrate to lowlands areas or abroad in search of better income, women are left to manage the farm and household and participate in small trade and income-earning activities. Yet lack of access to credit hampers efforts to improve or expand their farm activities and earn cash incomes.Inaccessibility shapes the lives of mountain communities. Further, the challenges men and women face in mountain regions is intensified by altitude, steep terrain and isolation.

International Mountain Day 2022 fact sheet: Women move mountains

publication

Women move mountains is the theme of this year's International Mountain Day on 11 December 2022. Women play a key role in environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas. They are often the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity, keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of...

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Women move mountains: High-level events to mark International Mountain Day

news

International leaders and mountain champions will discuss the key role women play in environmental protection and social and economic sustainable development in mountain areas, during high-level celebrations of International Mountain Day (IMD) 2022 on Friday, 9 December and Monday, 12 December 2022.

The focus of this year’s IMD, “Women move mountains”, highlights...

United Nations General Assembly Resolution: Sustainable Mountain Development (2022)

publication

Resolution approved by the United Nations General Assembly on sustainable mountain development at seventy-seventh session. A/RES/77/172

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Women Move Mountains photo contest opens

peak to peak

The November 2022 issue of Peak to Peak announces the opening of the International Mountain Day 2022 photo contest, "Women move mountains". Top news stories spotlight countries' mountain advocacy efforts in Nepal and Romania and continue with updates on Mountain Partnership members' projects in Ecuador and Tajikistan. Peak to Peak...

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Women Move Mountains photo contest opens

news

The theme of the International Mountain Day 2022 photo contest launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 25 October is "Women move mountains".

Women play a key role in environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas. They are often the primary...