Earlier this year, Chinese journalist Chai Jing released a self-financed documentary about the dangerous air quality in China’s cities, which she attributed to the development of a tumor in her unborn child. Carefully researched, personal, and full of shocking statistics, the film was downloaded over 150 million times in a few days; until it was blocked by the Chinese government.

This might seem to reflect circumstances unique to China, but the trend of women speaking truth to power is everywhere. As cataclysmic as an environmental crisis is, there is a another force of equally historic magnitude. For the first time in the recorded history of our species, women are rising globally. Whether it is Jing speaking out as a journalist on behalf of Chinese mothers, or Malala inspiring school girls to resist the Taliban, the perspectives of women are reframing global issues. Kurdish female troops fighting ISIS are more than great optics. The retreat of global poverty means more women have something to loose.

A mounting body of research indicates that this is a good thing for planet earth. Women tend to spend more money on their family and engage in community support systems. Why? A secure household is especially important to women and children because they suffer disproportionally from famine, fluctuating commodity prices, and natural disasters. According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, women reinvest up to 90 percent of their incomes back into their own households, compared to 30-40 percent by men. Furthermore, when women have access to birth control, resources are better managed, disease declines, and populations stabilize. That is, communities are more sustainable.

As women are speaking out and exercising their basic freedoms, a new global perspective is coming into focus. It is not that the Chinese government was unaware of pollution or that the Taliban doubted the broad nature of its opposition. Rather, the poignancy and details of a woman’s perspective can become a liability when ignored or underestimated. Conversely, they often render “surprise” benefits when accommodated. On a global scale, this adds up. 

The alignment between gender equity and sustainability is the reason why the United Nations has incorporated it as part of its Sustainable Development Goals. It is not possible to implement a truly sustainable program which neglects 50% of the population. While this might sound obvious, it requires rethinking many issues.

Family planning, for instance, might be the most important sustainability-related issue. That’s why the Gates Foundation and the Global Poverty Project (GPP) have made it a priority. In working with the later, Naked Condoms became the first condom manufacturer to market condoms to women. Beginning as a conventional education program, GPP and Naked realized passing out condoms to men was not enough. Traditionally thought of as a male prerogative, marketing one of the most popular forms of contraceptives as a choice for women was needed in order to reframe the entire dynamic. Linking sustainability, family planning, and women’s agency closely together made sense. Momentum gathered and now Naked exclusively targets women.

While the overall project of eliminating global poverty remains central, it matters how solutions are reached and who demands them. Global solutions require a diversity of perspectives and the historical absence of women is, no doubt, not sustainable.


The views expressed here are not necessarily those of each of the partners of Global Citizen.

Editorial

Demand Equity

How women will save the world