Divya Hegde of Udupi Receives UN's Award for Leadership Commitment to Promote Gender Equality

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 21 December 2021

At the 2021 Regional Asia-Pacific Women's Empowerment Principles Awards event on November 18th, 2021, Divya Hegde of Udupi, coastal Karnataka, received the UN Women's Award for Leadership Commitment. Her efforts to promote gender equality via climate action have been recognised. Her organisation, Baeru Environmental Services, focuses on waste management, rural women's livelihoods, and the development of a circular economy in the region.

Divya said, "gender justice is inextricably linked to climate justice and the world needs to leverage women as its most powerful ally in fighting climate change. At Baeru, we are enabling rural women's socio-economic empowerment by leveraging the power of design and technology in lingual and regional contexts. We firmly believe that our mission of environmental justice and gender equality go hand in hand."

By providing jobs and access to training programmes in waste management and product creation, Baeru enables women in the community to adopt proactive climate change actions.

They're currently operating in coastal Karnataka and the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot of worldwide significance. A fundamental aspect of their climate communications work is the use of local arts and culture practises to conduct relatable and successful workshops for women and children, and they deliver realistic and successful seminars for women and children through the medium of local arts and cultural practises.

They seek to provide a strong and relevant context that connects the severity of the climate situation to local coastal communities, as well as dispel myths about climate solutions being oppressive, unsustainable, and economically harmful for rural inhabitants.

Divya further said, "we work closely with women to enhance  their awareness of climate action issues, as they are the primary decision-makers concerning the lifestyle choices of their family unit. By helping them harness technology and encouraging micro-entrepreneurship to streamline waste management, we have been able to generate gainful and meaningful employment for women, thus enabling financial independence."

The United Nations Leadership Commitment Award honours those who have played a key role in establishing strong pledges to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and/or community.

This prize is a joint UN Women and UN Global Compact project aimed at encouraging women to fully engage in all aspects of economic life.