Gender and Waste Nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal

and girls everywhere”. SDG 5 also includes more specific gender targets that are relevant to the waste sector, such as to “ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life”. Global commitments to the SDGs, including the overarching SDG mandate to “leave no one behind”, underscore the importance of understanding the gender and waste nexus. These broad commitments establish the need for ensuring gender equality in the waste sector, the progress of which will in turn contribute to the implementation, and consequently achievement, of multiple SDGs. In consideration of these mandates, the UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP- IETC), together with partner organizations from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal, has initiated theWaste and Climate Change project funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI), which focuses on climate mitigation and the reduction of GHG emissions from thewaste sector by: • developing waste management strategies at the national and city levels, which have explicit links to mitigation opportunities related to GHGs and short- lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) • identifying environmentally sound technologies for the waste sector based on UNEP’s Sustainability Assessment of Technologies Methodology • strengthening the capacity of policymakers to access green financing for large-scale investments in technologies in order to mitigate GHGs and SLCPs in the waste sector • raising awareness among government officials, waste sector operators and the general public on the potential mitigation benefits in the waste sector. The purpose of this technical report is to assess current gender and waste linkages through three case studies – Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal – and to bring a gender perspective to the Waste and Climate Change project. More specifically, the study was developed to: • identify linkages between gender, waste and climate change in Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal • advance gender mainstreaming in the waste management sector 4 • propose targeted actions to mainstream gender in activities carried out as part of theWaste and Climate Change project. Interviews in Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal were conducted at the household, municipality, formal operational and informal waste management levels. The

full methodology can be found in annex 1. In addition, UNEP-IETC, in collaboration with the national partner organizations, organized stakeholder consultations to provide further feedback, particularly on policy recommendations. These consultations were carried out in all three countries in April 2019. The focus of this report is on household municipal solid waste. Thiswaste typicallycomprisesmaterials discarded in everyday life, such as food and organic waste, paper and packaging, durable materials and plastic containers, though it can also include hazardous waste, such as batteries or household electronic equipment. Since urban households generate more waste per person, the report focuses on the countries’ capital cities: Thimphu (Bhutan), Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) and Kathmandu (Nepal). 5 These capital cities are the single largest urban agglomeration in each country, and due to their outsized cultural, demographic and economic presence and influence, qualify as primate cities. Household waste problems are more severe and significant in primate cities than in other settlements, and as a result, mitigation solutions and policies developed for such cities will generally set national standards, especially in rapidly urbanizing countries such as Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal. This gender assessment acknowledges and identifies, to the extent possible, “intersectionality”, specifically the different power and hierarchical relations that result from the combined effects of gender, race, ethnicity, caste, class, age, ability/ disability, religion, ethnicity and other social identities. Gender is the result of socially constructed ideas about the different roles, behaviours, rights and responsibilities of men and women, and the relations between them. Gender relations themselves are also created by a range of institutions, such as family, legal systems or the economic context. As a result, the understanding of gender and gender relations differs between cultures and societies, and also changes over time. Gender difference is usually connected to unequal power and access to choices and resources. The different positions of women and men are influenced by many aspects, such as historical, religious, economic and cultural realities, as well as the environment.

Gender and waste nexus

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