Voice of Power: Strengthening Women's Participation in Climate Governance

By: Yukta Ramanan

Climate change is rapidly increasing incidences of extreme flooding events in developing countries like India, disrupting water access and increasing the spread of disease. Elected women representatives (EWRs) are especially known to have strong preferences for clean drinking water (Chattopadhyay and Duflo, 2004). Yet, they have not been actively involved in speaking up at council meetings — let alone in determining climate risks and developing effective solutions that would impact local communities. Instead, their husbands or other accompanying men often speak on their behalf while the women themselves remain silent. A key reason for this lack of participation is that EWRs do not have confidence or training in using their own voices In many spheres such as legal courts, corporate boards, and government departments, women are interrupted, talked over, silenced, and not treated as equal to men (Zimmerman and West, 1996; Brescoll, 2011). These dynamics also exist in village councils in India. Voice training is one of the more nontraditional aspects of the Megha project and aims to help the women speak with greater authority and confidence — strengthening their voices both literally and figuratively.

The training toolkit developed by the Megha Voice & Music Team includes a curriculum for strengthening the voice, participation, and leadership of women in village councils. We have outline modules on tone modulation, pitch changes, and other confidence-building exercises. In addition to pre-filmed videos that demonstrate the vocal training practices at hand. The module includes exercises for strengthening the voice, building vocal control/power; and tactics for responding to and re-shaping social norms.  The overarching aim of the module is to help women use their own, existing voices better and more effectively. In addition to leveraging existing methods of vocal communication (religious and social songs; chants with drumming), the module proposes the strengthening of women’s voices through voice-body techniques, vocal warm ups, and breathing exercises, among other practices.

Vocal training has been met with positive reception from the EWR community, with many women citing that it has enhanced their participation at council meetings and emboldened them to advocate for themselves. Testimonials:

• Neha Kumari, block coordinator of the Biraul Panchayat shared in May 2025 — shortly after the voice training was administered — that"the three-day voice training helped her improve breath control, vocal techniques, and active listening. She also learned relaxation through yoga and gained confidence by overcoming fear and hesitation. She now feels more capable of turning her weaknesses into strengths."

• Jamna Devi from Rohar Mahmuda, Biraul Panchayat shared in February 2026 that "in the cluster meeting that the voice training has helped her a lot. Earlier, she felt shy to speak, but now she can confidently express her views in the community and speak openly in meetings. She also felt that using songs and slogans together makes their message stronger and creates greater impact when everyone raises their voice collectively."

• In a similar vein, in February 2026, Anjali Devi from Kanhai, Gaurabauram Panchayat shared that "voice training has brought positive change among women representatives. Earlier, they felt shy to speak, but now they can express their views confidently. Singing songs and raising slogans together has improved teamwork, reduced hesitation, and strengthened unity. They feel that collective voices can build pressure on the authority and solve big problems."

• Khadija Khatoon from Rajo, Singhwara Panchayat shared in May 2026 that she has "applied her learning beyond the training by sharing it with her family and during Jeevika group meetings. She particularly appreciated the slogan-raising activity and mentioned that she has learned the importance of voice modulation—understanding when to speak loudly and when softly."

Though these quotes represent but a few instances of voice training's efficacy in the broader scope of the Megha project, they qualitatively demonstrate just how important women's literal voices are to their climatic mobilization. In developing a rigorous, data-driven framework adapted to the local contexts in which the EWRs are situated, the Megha team has only reinforced women's participation in council meetings, but also equipped them with the tools to build local capacity, take charge of their destinies, and propagate their findings in their communities beyond the scope of research supervision.

Works Cited

• Brescoll, V. L. (2011). Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power, and Volubility in Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(4), 622–641

• R. Chattopadhyay and E. Duflo. Women as policy makers: Evidence from a randomized policy experiment in india. Econometrica, 72(5):1409–1443, 2004. 

• Zimmerman, D.H., & West, C. (1996). Sex roles, interruptions, and silences in conversation. Chapter 9 in Towards a Critical Sociolinguistics

Example of cluster meeting - May 2026