Women Displaced by Climate Change Are Telling Us What They Need. It’s Past Time for Us To Listen.

Women and girls account for 80 percent of the people displaced by climate change. In Somalia, laws that limit women’s abilities to own assets mean they have less access to economic opportunities and tend to depend more on natural resources for their livelihoods, which makes them more vulnerable to displacement.

Once women are displaced, not only do they have to survive, they have to care for their families, all while evading the heightened risk of violence.

Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation: Michelle Yeoh on the Need for Women Leaders; Minnesota’s Push for Ranked-Choice Voting; Remembering Pat Schroeder

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation. 

This week: Women Talking wins best adapted screenplay at the Oscars, a film about ““a radical act of democracy in which people who don’t agree on every single issue manage to sit together in a room and carve out a way forward together”; actor Michelle Yeoh on her experiences with crises and how they illuminate the need for women in leadership; allies in Minnesota are working toward ranked-choice voting; remembering Pat Schroeder, a women’s rights pioneer; and more.

Why a Global Treaty Would Help End Violence Against Women and Girls

Ms. contributor Michelle Onello and co-founder of Every Woman Treaty, Lisa Shannon, discuss the causes and consequences of the recent rise in violence against women and girls, why a global treaty is necessary to meet their needs worldwide, and the prospects for moving forward with a treaty in the current political climate.

“In the absence of a global framework, we are allowing generations of frontline women’s rights activists to be stalked, harassed, beaten, murdered and chased out of their countries and forced to live in exile.”

Women Are Necessary for Ukraine’s Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction

Women are not only essential to the emergency response, but to Ukraine’s successful post-war recovery and reconstruction, democratic progress and E.U. integration. However, they are largely absent from formal decision-making platforms on deescalation, conflict mitigation and relief and recovery.

Women’s participation in the design and implementation of Ukraine’s recovery programs is critical to maximize the effectiveness of the reconstruction process, take into account differentiated needs, and bolster post-conflict development.

Women Hold Up Half the Sky

As the United Nations assistant secretary-general for Africa, I know all too well the immense challenges women face in conflict situations, but I also have firm belief and appreciation of the important role they play in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and securing lasting peace.

From sexual and gender-based violence to a lack of access to education, healthcare, and jobs, women and girls are often disproportionately impacted by conflict. However, when it comes to access to the negotiating table in political and peace processes, it is more often men who take the seats. It is time to make sure that women’s participation in peace and security processes becomes the norm, not a token effort.