Both ENDS
Today is International Women's Day. A day originating from women's strikes against poor working conditions in the textile industry, some 100 years ago. Since then, a lot has improved for women but, unfortunately, men and women obviously still don’t have equal rights. In 1949, Simone de Beauvoir already warned that ‘women’s rights will never be vested. You have to stay vigilant your whole life’. Recent developments such as the tightening of abortion laws in some countries confirm this view and show that even in the ‘free West’ women’s rights are still far from self-evident.
The Dutch government and Dutch businesses spend a lot of money on food production in developing countries. But, according to Karin van Boxtel, policy officer at Both ENDS, far too little of that money finds its way to sustainable, nature-inclusive producers.
We are delighted that the Dutch Postcode Lottery has approved our proposal to support an extra project to the tune of 1,380,000 euros! The proposal, for an Autonomy and Resilience Fund (ARF), was submitted by the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), which comprises the Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres (FCAM), Mama Cash and Both ENDS. With the ARF, GAGGA works with Small Grants Funds to help local women's groups become resilient in a changing world in which it is increasingly difficult for them to hold their heads above water. The award of this large sum of money means an enormous boost for many women's organisations, and this is badly needed at a time when economic, climate and health crises are constantly putting the resilience of women, their communities and their living environments around the world to the test!
GAGGA rallies the collective power of the women's rights and environmental justice movements to realize a world where women can and do access their rights to water, food security, and a clean, healthy and safe environment.
October 10th the fifth board meeting of the Green Climate Fund took place, this time in Paris. The Green Climate Fund is an international fund set up and commissioned by the United Nations in order to help developing countries combatting the negative effects of climate change. Possibly, developing countries are granted with an amount of $100 billion a year! Although the financial support is very promising, opinions differ widely on how that money should be spent. Therefore Anouk Franck and Annelieke Duma of Both ENDS attended, along with Titi Soentoro of the Indonesian organization Aksi! and Jorge Daneri of M'Bigua from Argentina, to make sure that the money gets where it is most needed.
In various countries in the Sahel, vast tracts of land have been restored by the local population by nurturing what spontaneously springs from the soil and protecting the sprouts from cattle and hazards.
More than 20 NGOs co-signed a statement expressing their concern on the accreditation of Deutsche Bank as implementing partner of the Green Climate Fund. The signatories, including Both ENDS are disappointed about the lack of transparency of the accreditation.
Together with civil society organisations from all over the world, the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Alliance aims for socially just, inclusive and environmentally sustainable societies in the Netherlands and the Global South.
