Despite their crucial contributions, women’s work is often unrecognized and under-resourced. They face gendered structural barriers that limit their earning power and opportunities for upward mobility. With limited access to credit, training, and time, women must often work in the informal waste sector where they receive lower income, fewer health and safety protections, and are at heightened risk of gender-based violence. We work with women to address these challenges. We provide the tools and resources so that women can successfully participate in and advance local circular economies. We promote an inclusive and equitable waste sector that integrates all actors in the system. We advance advance gender equality in the solid waste management sector by;
a) Creating opportunities for women to establish and expand their waste businesses
Through Women in Waste’s Economic Empowerment, women are offered a blend of business, leadership, and empowerment training, coupled with a small business incubator action that offers mentorship and funding opportunities for establishing or expanding women-owned recycling or waste businesses. The participation of women in these actions has led to increased efficiencies at work, providing more time with their families, to care for themselves, and be active in their communities. They also have newfound confidence to share their ideas with others, form relationships with their peers, and trust themselves.
b) Including gender in the local government planning processes
We provide inclusive gender training to build the capacity of all individuals who work in the waste sector. We provide participatory training to women, members of the informal sector, and government officials and employees. The trainings result in positive outcomes, from women in local government applying for gender and development funding for the first time, to engaging more male participation in training to discuss gender-based violence and ways to prevent it. In building the capacity of local government officials to strengthen solid waste management planning, we promote solid waste management plans that are inclusive and ensure that women’s roles are represented across the waste value chain. For example, we work with Municipal Councils to integrate gender equality in their solid waste management plans. We support actors in local governments to eliminate discrimination through the recognition, protection, fulfillment, and promotion of the rights of women, especially those belonging in the marginalized sectors of the society. In our actions, Local governments are supported to align their solid waste management plans with the country’s gender mainstreaming program in order to receive support from the Ministry of Gender and central government.
c) Promoting the safety of women in waste sector
We are committed to increasing women’s safety in the waste sector. We ensure that ensure that gender-based violence is part of our trainings that target both women and men. We ensure that that women have the resources they need to seek help, if needed. During our trainings for example, we discuss issues around gender-based violence in business and leadership skills training where participants learn about the rights of women and what to do in case of sexual harassment. Participants able to share the information with other women in their community regarding their protection and safety. Gender-responsive occupational safety and health training is also included in all our activities to promote and provide personal protective equipment that is right-sized and designed for women. We partner with informal waste collectors to create customized uniforms that offer protection to women from waste and the sun and brand them as professionals to be respected. The uniforms are designed through a co-creation process, which sought women’s inputs to ensure they meet their unique needs, thus increasing women’s willingness to wear the protective gear.
d) Strengthening women’s agency and confidence to be recycling champions.
Building the confidence and reducing the stigma of the informal waste sector within the surrounding community can have a profound impact on the quality of women’s lives and waste management systems. Through our actions for empowerment of women, we are creating an environment for women in waste to form more supportive, sustainable communities. We support women to become community solid waste management champions. Through training, we enhance women’s knowledge and advocacy skills around waste management to influence their community to practice the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle).
e) Designing waste system solutions based on gender-inclusive research.
We use social research to better understand women’s roles with respect to solid waste management and the 3Rs. For example, we conduct research on gender and waste to learn who in the household handled waste and how. Through research, we learn how waste handling is gendered in Uganda. Research seek to identify strategies to enhance women’s economic empowerment in the waste and recycling sector by establishing data on women’s roles in the waste value chain. Through some of the research projects, we found that women are well-represented at the lowest levels of the waste value chain such as informal waste collectors but are noticeably absent from the other levels. Women informal waste collectors are also more likely to experience sexual harassment and gender-based violence. We share our findings with the national and local governments to inform their approach on engagement with the informal sector.
f) Rightsizing technology and facilities for women
Historically, the tools and equipment used for waste management have been developed as one-size-fits-all. We are changing this approach by providing tools and uniforms that are designed to be used by women and considering their unique needs.