Empowering Women and Climate Resilience

Photo by amol sonar on Unsplash

Since its beginnings, in the 1930s, in India, the Brahma Kumaris have been fostering and leading the way in women’s empowerment and gender equality, at all levels of society. Today, in India, the Rural Wing of the Brahma Kumaris, specifically works to empower women in rural villages on how to be more climate resilient. 

Key initiatives include:

• Training on kitchen garden preparation, including compost preparation, bed making and grey water management
• Training on how to make millet-based food products
• Skills training, such as, in weaving and natural dyeing, and printing to create economic autonomy
• Supporting a dedicated Women’s Panchayat (leader) in the village council office and the formation of Self-Help Groups,  integrating women’s voices into governance and in community decision-making 

Another initiative the Brahma Kumaris are part of is The Women, Faith and Climate Network (WFCN).  This is a multi-faith women-led network of global faith leaders. It recognises the powerful potential that women of faith can play in climate leadership. It was officially launched at COP 29 in Baku (2024) by Mary Robinson, following high-level gatherings in Wilton Park, UK (2023) and Frascati, Italy (2024.) 

One of its areas of focus is to increase the visibility of women leaders with its Women Healing the Earth Series.  This initiative highlights the stories of women of faith courageously stepping up to respond to the climate crisis with creativity. It showcases climate heroes such as Khadija Atieno Rashid, a Muslim mother in Nairobi, becoming the catalyst to transform a polluted and unsafe riverside into a green community space where children play and women gather.  Also Sr Jayanti, Additional Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris, whose work demonstrates how faith traditions can generate large-scale environmental solutions by nurturing individual awareness and empowerment. 

 The network also supports practical action and radical collaboration among its network members.  The Brahma Kumaris and India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) have subsequently explored possible areas of partnership, due to their shared core values, and complementary strengths and technologies. SEWA has over 3.8 million members, and the Brahma Kumaris counts over a million students in its numbers. 

The proposed partnership looks at combining SEWA’s work to empower women, their extensive network of women farmers, its Cleaner Skies Campaign and their methodology for developing self-sufficiency and green solutions, with the Brahma Kumaris’ expertise in renewable energy, yogic farming and spiritual education. 

Two joint pilot projects are currently under discussion. The Kamla Induction Cooking pilot project, to develop two solar powered community kitchens, with technical support on induction cooking from Brahma Kumaris.  The second is the Self-Sufficient Village and Sustainable Future through Women-Led Solarisation of Households and Livelihoods pilot project.  This proposal builds on the Brahma Kumaris’ Raj Rishi Gokul Gram Wholistic Village Development (highlighted in the last issue of this newsletter) and draws on SEWA’s Hariyali Gaam Green Village Initiative. 

“These projects were put forward as powerful examples of what radical collaboration can achieve in practice, building on shared core values, and complementary strengths and methodologies, and demonstrating how renewable energy can be integrated into broader community development initiatives.” Report: Women, Faith and Climate Network: Scaling Radical Collaboration Monday 2 – Wednesday 4 March 2026

By Editorial Team