Good to see you again.
At a time when climate change is manifesting itself in unpredictable ways, from heatwaves to floods, water justice has turned out to be one of the most crucial issues at hand.
Ironically, while the manifestation of climate change is no different across geographies, the impact differs. For example, countries in the global south, which historically contributed least to global emissions, bear the maximum brunt of climate change.
The year 2022 was particularly devastating, as major parts of South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan saw heatwaves like never before. Heatwaves killed at least 90 people in India and Pakistan, as the temperature soared as high as 46-48 °C. This was followed by massive floods in Pakistan, forcing millions of people to leave their houses.
In natural calamities, often women are the worst sufferers. Millions of women and children in Pakistan are forced to remain in unhygienic conditions while menstruating, adding to the risk of widespread health hazards during floods. UNICEF has been providing sanitary napkins to many women as millions of women and girls are stranded in floods, with no access to shops or retail outlets. Before receiving dignity kits with sanitary napkins, many menstruating women were using pieces torn off their own clothes.
The scarcity of drinking water during extreme climatic events is another issue that policymakers need to tackle in countries bearing the harsh impact of climate change. Once again, women bear a disproportionate impact of this crisis as they are required to do daily chores and take care of children.
Pakistan is not the only country reeling under a water crisis. From Kenya, South-Africa to Colombia and Bangladesh, the water crisis has led to extreme tribulations for women. It is also linked with the sex trade, exploitation and violence against women.
We must also remember, the water problem is a global problem. As a natural and freely available resource, every human being has the right to access clean drinking water.
Have you come across any stories of communities impacted by water? We would like to hear about it. Send us your stories to Nextblue at joep@next.blue. We want to bring your stories to global readers, so that we collectively tackle this humanitarian crisis.
Let’s join hands for water justice to all
Last week we’ve published another episode of our podcast where we talk with Adenike Oladosu, founder of “I Lead Climate Initiative".
She has observed the effects of the vanishing Lake Chad, located at the conjunction of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. The freshwater lake has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s due to unplanned irrigation and climate change, with women at the forefront of the prevailing conflicts and crises.
Oladosu shares experiences on how it affects the daily lives of women and girls, and how they need to be at the heart of climate action.
Find it on your favourite platform and subscribe: https://next.blue/podcast
🟢 Spotify https://spoti.fi/3RZqLDt
🟡 Google Podcasts https://bit.ly/3xBfGQZ
🔵 iTunes https://apple.co/3UAx1n9
Story of the Week
Human activities endangering life in the haors
Farmers in the Haor region of Bangladesh face losses due to too much or too little rain and early flooding. As a result, the once prosperous haor life is now disappearing writes Poli Rani Debnath.
Video of the Week
Tweet of the Week
Wrap up
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See you next time,
Joep
