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.
In 2022 and 2023, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat teamed up with the Feminist Hiking Collective – a non-profit organization and transnational hub for feminist hikers, and a member of the Mountain Partnership – on a social research project to identify the main challenges faced by mountain women and support their collective power, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery.
In-depth interviews were conducted with 313 mountain women in Argentina, Chile, Italy, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the United Republic of Tanzania. The result of this collaboration was the publication of two reports, Mountain women of the world – Challenges, resilience and collective power and Mountain women of the world – Shaping change for the common good.
The Feminist Hiking Collective and the Mountain Women of the World Network are producing a documentary series on their interviews with the women in each country. Watch the videos here:
Women Move Mountains photo contest openspeak to peakThe 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... Download » |
Women Move Mountains photo contest opensnewsThe 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... Read more » |
United Nations General Assembly Report: Sustainable mountain development (2022)publicationReport of the Secretary-General on Sustainable Mountain Development Download » |
Main proceedings from the HLPF side event on mountainspeak to peakThe August 2022 issue of Peak to Peak shares the main proceedings from the side event on mountains organized by the Government of Andorra and the Mountain Partnership at the High-level Political Forum 2022. Top news stories cover a call for grant applications through the newly launched Mountain Facility Investment... Download » |
Register for the Mountain Partnership Global Meetingpeak to peakThe July 2022 issue of Peak to Peak invites all Mountain Partnership members to register for the upcoming 6th Mountain Partnership Global Meeting, which will be held at the Aspen Meadows, the campus of the Aspen Institute, in Aspen, Colorado, United States of America on 26-29 September 2022. Top news... Download » |
Agritourism promotes food traditions in PalaunewsRose Ongalibong shows off the pinkish-purple powder in a small bag. "It's taro flour," explains the genial retiree at her home on Palau's largest island, Babeldaob. With its distinctive heart-shaped leaves, taro is traditionally cultivated by Palauan women in plots of land around the shores of this tiny Pacific country. The... Read more » |
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