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

monarch who continues to promote sound waste management and gender equality.

community, women can bring insight to all stages of the waste management chain. Having more women in leadership roles would give weight to specific values within waste management systems that complement and enhance those provided by men. Policy considerations: Equal participation in political processes and the promotion of both women and men as leaders is important to strengthen gender mainstreaming. Enabling women with high degrees to get jobs on an equal level as men within business, law and STEM fields would move gender equality forward. Recognizing, acknowledging, encouraging and promoting women as entrepreneurs and good leaders is recommended to increase their significance as stakeholders and partners in waste management. Labourers have limited knowledge of the adverse health effects from working with waste. Women (sometimes with babies and small children) and men working on scrap yards and landfills are unaware of their dangers and health effects, which may be differentiated. These labourers also often work without a contract, which prevents them from earning a steady income and reduces their work security. If contracts were in place, it would be easier to quality check the waste segregation andmake it more reliable, efficient and safer, for example, by giving proper education and adequate supervision. Policy considerations: Local leaders should develop and sponsor appropriate awareness-raising campaigns on the risks of working with waste, especially on landfills. Women and men need to receive training about the impact that waste has on them and on their offspring, as well as on the importance of safe and sound waste management. Public and private organizations working in waste management should recognize the informal sector and those who work in semi-formal employment (especially women), such as registered sweepers working without a contract, and should provide training on waste handling, both for efficiency and safety.

Bhutan

Policy considerations: Awareness-raising at all levels and structures should be pursued. The media could further promote the importance of sound waste management and gender equality. However, a proper assessment of the waste value chain should come first. Solid baseline information is a prerequisite for designing comprehensive waste management strategies. There is little baseline information available, which hinders finding the best and most economically viable solutions for waste management, including recycling. Policy considerations: An in-depth assessment of the waste value chain is needed to map out the role of social entrepreneurs and the informal sector, as well as the unpaid role that women and communities have played in waste management. The gender gap in the waste sector is much larger than previously acknowledged. There is a marked division of labour and unequal opportunities and roles in the various tasks between women and men in the waste sector. Existing stereotypes and perceptions of gender in society maintain these inequalities. Policy considerations: Offering equal recognition and equal opportunities for both women and men would help re-balance current gender inequalities and tackle particular barriers that women face. Education in schools could address gender equality and suggest that breaking down traditional gender roles may improve conditions for everyone. Awareness-raising and education on destigmatizing waste jobs is necessary. There is a strong need for the inclusion of women in all waste management levels. As primary handlers of household waste and the main participants in the local Operational level

Gender and waste nexus

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