ADB Gender Equality

ADB, together with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, officially launched a grant project to strengthen systems to prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence in Cambodia.   On 21 May, in Phnom Penh, Minister Ing Kantha Phavi of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Secretary of State Oung Sopheavy of the Ministry of Interior, and Yasmin Siddiqi, Country Director for Cambodia, ADB, delivered remarks to over 100 participants from line ministries, implementing partners, development partners, and civil society organizations, highlighting the importance of leadership and strong collaboration to deliver on this commitment. This project will help advance the country's goal of eliminating gender-based violence by 2030. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gCTSQxRX Yasmin Siddiqi | Chieko Yokota Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Women around the world carry out the majority of unpaid domestic work, including cooking, cleaning, and caring for children and the elderly. In many households, this means spending long hours in spaces like the kitchen, where the day's heat first takes hold. Yet the design of our homes rarely accounts for this reality.    Being #BuiltForHer means changing that. With better airflow, shading, and ventilation, kitchens can be cooler and more comfortable.   #BeatTheHeat #HeatActionDay Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

In the Philippines, extreme heat is disrupting learning in ways that fall unevenly on women and girls. When schools close, girls are frequently pulled from education to provide care at home. At the same time, with women making up 70% of the teaching workforce, female teachers absorb the compounding pressures of managing heat in classrooms while carrying significant domestic responsibilities. Marite P. Irvine from the Ateneo de Manila University’s Research Institute for the Futures of Education argues that the burden of adaptation should not be placed on individuals, but on systems and institutions that decide how learning is delivered, resourced, and sustained under rising temperatures. #BuiltForHer #BeatTheHeat #HeatActionDay Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

Hiddo Huitzing highlights documented increases in cardiovascular disease, pregnancy complications, and hospitalizations linked to heat exposure—outcomes that are worsened when health systems are not gender-responsive.    #BuiltForHer #BeatTheHeat #HeatActionDay Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

Women agricultural workers spend a significant part of their day on childcare and household responsibilities alongside farming, leaving them with less time for paid work and fewer resources to rely on. Gi Un Kim, Natural Resources and Agriculture Economist at ADB, points to community-driven interventions such as shared childcare arrangements, alongside access to labor-saving tools, which can help women farmers sustain productivity and protect their livelihoods even as extreme heat and drought intensify. #HeatActionDay #BuiltForHer #BeatTheHeat Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

Walkability is becoming central to urban planning conversations. However, for many women and girls, the experience of navigating cities is increasingly shaped not only by the need to avoid the heat, but by the need to ensure their safety. Prof. Nicole Kalms highlights that this emotional and cognitive load is a significant, often invisible burden that gender-neutral design consistently fails to address. Closing this gap requires grounding design decisions in the everyday realities of women and girls. #BuiltForHer #BeatTheHeat #HeatActionDay Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathaniel Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

On #HeatActionDay, Prof. Ronita Bardhan asks: how do we redesign the built environment so women are no longer left at the mercy of their surroundings as temperatures rise?    Research indicates that women sweat 15% less than men, resulting in their bodies retaining more heat under the same physical conditions. Yet most urban infrastructure and building standards are still benchmarked against male physiology.    For many women–especially those in low-income communities with limited access to cooling–this becomes a daily and compounding heat burden. Designing cooler, more inclusive cities is a public health imperative.    #BuiltForHer #BeatTheHeat Asian Development Bank (ADB) Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez

How can we ensure women and girls use and benefit from transport systems?     In Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, main seaport, and a major economic hub, a 26-kilometer bus rapid transit corridor financed by ADB achieved a 20% increase in female ridership by the final year of implementation.     Under this project, feeder routes and schedules are specifically designed to cater to the travel needs of women and other vulnerable groups, including students at universities and secondary schools.    Check our Gender Equality in Transport digital tool to discover more practical tools and insights to inspire your own work: https://lnkd.in/g8ZUUnen Asian Development Bank (ADB) #Pakistan #Transport #CaseStudies 

Women need to be part of the equation. ✈️ Jacinta Waine-Kenewi, First Assistant Secretary (Civil Aviation) of Papua New Guinea's Department of Transport, shares why it is important to have more women in leadership and technical roles in the transport sector. Asian Development Bank (ADB)

During the 2024 heat waves in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Nowshi's school closed for a week after classroom temperatures rose to dangerous levels. Drag and move elements in this interactive space https://lnkd.in/g7Z-JmbS to design a cooler, safer classroom so Nowshi and girls everywhere can keep learning, no matter how hot it gets. Share what you built by posting it on social media and tagging it #BuiltForHer, or by uploading your design to bit.ly/HADDesignChallenge and adding your name and a note explaining your thinking. #HeatActionDay #BeatTheHeat Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Zonibel Woods | Jinha Kim | Mia Hernandez Howell | Kriselda Anna delos Santos | Aya T. | Claudine Lopez | Nathan Sarcia | Pauline Gutierrez