It Takes a Village – The Story of Seeta
This paper is a collaborative effort between Faith For Our Planet (FFOP) and Islamic Relief (IR), focusing on women leadership and community resilience, especially following Pakistan’s catastrophic floods in 2022. It is a contribution to a larger policy recommendation, coordinated by Shanghai University and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Country papers and case studies collected from 18 Asia Pacific nations will culminate in the policy recommendation and a storybook to be launched in late 2024/ early 2025.
For this study, FFOP and IR-Pakistan interviewed Seeta, a resident of Bhagat Sutaram in Mirpur Khas, Sindh. Before the floods, Seeta was already involved in organizing microloans for women, enabling them to start small businesses. However, the floods of 2022 destroyed much of the village, including homes, agricultural land, and essential infrastructure. Seeta emphasizes ‘climate change is poverty’, as the local women not only lost their livelihoods and education opportunities, but also faced additional challenges such as the destruction of indoor bathrooms, which led to significant safety and health concerns.
Seeta’s testimony delves into the systemic issues that exacerbate the plight of – particularly rural – women in Pakistan. Women are often excluded from decision-making processes, both at the local and national levels, due to a lack of education, cultural barriers, and the patriarchal structure of society. Despite these challenges, Seeta has emerged as a community leader, advocating for women empowerment in rebuilding efforts and promoting interreligious harmony in her village, which has enabled invaluable coordination between NGO efforts and the village requirements. However, challenges loom as Seeta remains an exception, not a norm, being the only women in a leadership role, as traditional gender roles and permission from male family members exclude the village women from participation.
The analysis highlights the colonial roots of Pakistan’s current climate crisis, which has left the country vulnerable due to weak governance, centralized decision-making, and exclusion of local and indigenous knowledge. Pakistan’s climate resilience is further compromised by economic instability, with 39% of the population living in multidimensional poverty. The situation is especially dire for women, who face significant barriers to education or economic inclusion due to social discrimination and cultural norms, making them particularly vulnerable to climate-induced disasters.
By reviewing existing policy literature in Pakistan, the paper argues that addressing the climate crisis in Pakistan requires not just immediate relief efforts but also a fundamental shift in governance and policy-making that recognizes and integrates the experiences and knowledge of women like Seeta, and shapes interventions that are not merely responsive to gender inequalities, but seek to transform them alongside local stakeholders. The analysis, using postcolonial feminist theory, explores how the deficiency of women and indigenous representation and inclusion has shaped Pakistan’s environmental policies. It also posits that women and rural communities draw upon moral, religious, and spiritual frameworks in their relationship with nature and natural resources, but also in their leadership and governance methods – a model which could be deeply impactful in a country where religion plays a significant role in social and political interactions.
Overall, the recommendations made in this report stress the need to decolonize Pakistan’s policymaking epistemology, which continue to be influenced by colonial-era governance structures that prioritize centralized control over local engagement. Thereby ensuring that the lessons learned from women like Seeta are applied on a larger scale across Pakistan.