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

Mongolia GENDER MAP OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ULAANBAATAR

H

H

S

E

E

C

O

T

R

I

P

S

L

L

O

A

U

D

B

C

O

S

U

E

H

P

R

P

I

V

,

A

S

T

N

E

O

I

STREET SWEEPERS COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS STREET PICKERS

C

T

O

U

M

T

I

HOUSEHOLD WASTE MANAGERS

P

T

A

S

N I

N

P U B L I C I

E

S ,

COLLECTION OF WASTE

e t c

APARTMENT COUNCILS

.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WASTE COLLECTION COMPANIES

MALE MAJORITY

FEMALE MAJORITY

PUBLIC AUTHORITY

TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE

DRIVERS LOADERS

CITY COUNCIL

DÜÜREG

LANDFILL OPERATORS WASTE PICKERS

RECYCLING REPAIR SHOPS JUNK SHOPS

KHOROO

TREATMENT OF WASTE

ADMINISTRATIVE LEVELS

KHESEG

S

M

S

E

A

S

I

L

L

L

R

A

S

P

E

N

L

R

N

L

D

I

E

T

F

Source: GRID-Arendal.

Figure 8. Note: The figure shows the relative authority of men and women with respect to the flow of waste in Ulaanbaatar. Women manage household waste, serve on apartment councils and volunteer as community waste managers, organizing community clean-up days and attending public meetings.

Although this observation about the women, waste and cleanliness nexus was offered by a male TUK office director, many other interviewees, both men and women, expressed similar opinions. Women’s traditional roles are not confined to their households and extend into the community, where they are largely responsible for participating in voluntary and informal activities, such as local clean-ups, neighbourhood association meetings and other related activities. This gender configuration is not only resulting in time poverty among women, 12 but is also reinforcing negative stereotypes that are confining women to domestic and informal spheres. This in turn is alienating men from household, local and community issues, and their lack of knowledge on such issues means they are engaging less with the everyday well-being of their communities. In ger districts, where waste needs to be brought directly to the waste collection trucks as they pass through on their routes, women tend to be mostly responsible for taking waste from the household, although some men are also involved in this task. Both men and women have been reported as saying that women need to remain at home (or were “mostly” the family member at home) when the waste is collected. This information is difficult

to reconcile with other data indicating women’s high rates of formal employment.

Policy and governance

Women’s participation in political, administrative and economic leadership is much lower than that of men. Within national instruments, discrimination in political, economic, family and social spheres is prohibited, but there are no gender laws specific to the waste sector. At the highest levels of city management, men hold most managerial roles in the municipal departments responsible for overseeing waste management. However, women are more prominent in social organizer roles, specifically the position of “kheseg leader” at the sub-district level (khoroos). Although kheseg leaders are not formal civil service positions, the role involves working very closely with khoroo governors and staff to deliver public services to residents.

Operational level

Men typically assume the manual labour positions in Mongolia’s waste sector, thereby reflecting assumptions about physical strength and men’s social role in general. During the field research, interviewees often described men as workers who did not need an education to find

Gender and waste nexus

32