Women climate champions fighting heatwaves and reshaping the urban climate agenda

This case studies outlines Mahila Housing Trust’s scalable model of woman-led education programme on climate change and health-related risks in urban settlements. Their model uses communication methods to introduce the concept of climate change and build climate resilience among vulnerable communities in India.

India is highly vulnerable to climate change. Nearly 75% of its districts are categorized as hotspots for extreme climate events. Impacts of heat stress are higher among India’s slum dwellers due to the vulnerable infrastructures made of heat-trapping materials. In addition to creating thermal discomfort indoors, the tightly packed houses get polluted with dust, ash, smoke, and chemicals. Home-based workers face a greater impact of indoor pollutants due to more time spent indoors. They are prone to diseases like pneumonia, stroke, and lung cancer, with women particularly at risk as they are most likely to work or spend time indoors.

Approach

The mission of Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) is to build a sustainable and scalable model of women-led climate change action to push climate solutions cutting across all levels of planning governance and offering affordable products to communities. It collaborates extensively with government bodies (e.g., India’s National Disaster Management Authority), local communities, and other organizations. Its work has been globally recognized through various awards, e.g., the UN Global Climate Action Award, the UN Sasakawa Award, and the Ashden Award.

The community leadership development model of MHT is based on a three-step process. First, MHT organizes all families in a community into a membership group called a Community-Based Organization (CBO). MHT also manages sensitisation campaigns and hosts area meetings with CBO members to identify the needs and aspirations of the community. CBO members are then encouraged to recognize women leaders among themselves as members of the Community Action Group (CAG). The CAG and its women leaders act as the executive committee of the CBO members and lead action on their behalf. The CAG members are then finally trained to interface with government bodies actively.