5 Mobilizing for change Working with farming communities along
the flood-ravaged coast of southwestern Bangladesh, the
humanitarian organization CARE has maximized its employment of
women, trained all staff in gender relations, and prioritized
work with female-headed households. Some time ago women farmers
lamented that their chickens, a profitable source of livelihood
when the weather was fair, were drowning when the monsoon season
drove floodwaters over the land. The farmers and the non-
governmental organization identified a strategy that effectively
solved the problem: Give up on chickens. Raise ducks.(2) This
strategy could serve as an epigram for one of the essential
tasks the whole world faces—adjusting to and thriving amidst the
changes on the way. Successfully carrying out this task will
require mobilizing public opinion and political will for
mitigating and adapting to climate change. Women in poor and
wealthy countries alike are increasingly working either directly
on climate change, on the global s