Women & Gender Equality
Placing women and gender equality at the heart of what we do
Climate change disproportionately affects women. 80% of people displaced by climate change are women with 67% of climate related decision making roles occupied by men.
At Eco Brixs, we're placing women at the heart of what we do. Here's how:
Education
Through our Plastics For Education programme, we're educating girls on the importance of environmental protection and plastic pollution.
Educating girls ranks as number 6 of the 100 most powerful solutions to tackle global warming. Educated girls are more likely to be economically and politically empowered, and less likely to be forced into early marriage to bear children. Lower fertility can lead to healthier, more secure families, and can reduce emissions well into the future. An educated girl is equipped with the skills to withstand and overcome the shocks of extreme weather events and changing weather cycles.
“Eco Brixs has helped me so much. I now know how to balance the books, receipting and accountability processes. My whole family are in a good situation now. We have electricity, food daily and treatment is available when children are sick. I can now solve my personal problems.” Regina
Advocacy & Leadership
We're passionate about encouraging female leadership and advocating for the inclusion of female voices in climate action.
Research highlights that countries with a high representation of women in parliament are more likely to ratify international environment treaties. We're continuing to advocate and encourage female leadership at Eco Brixs, with Sarah, who's currently studying Conservation Forestry and Products Technology at Makerere University, one of our main advocates for both women's engagement and the environment:
"As we move forward, empowering women and girls, intentionally involving them, fairly distributing opportunities in regards to climate action will be a great move in our fight against climate change and other global challenges."
Employment
By enabling anyone in the community to earn an income from delivering plastic waste to us, at any time, we offer women access to flexible employment to help become financially independent.
The majority of women in rural Uganda are financially dependent on others, spending over 7.5 hours per day on unpaid care work. Without financial independence, it's incredibly difficult for women to make informed choices, both for themselves and for their children.
We’re really proud that 50% of our team are women and as we grow, we’re focused on developing capacity within our team from the ground up.