Environmental Disasters

Citation:

Oluoko-Odingo, A. Alice. 2019. "Gender Mainstreaming for the Adaptation to Weather and Climate Extremes in African Cities." Journal of Climate Change and Sustainability 2 (1): 15-27.

Author: A. Alice Oluoko-Odingo

Abstract:

Although women constitute one-half of the human population and provide most labour in farming, they remain poor and most vulnerable to weather and climate extremes due to inequalities in ownership and decision-making on most important livelihood resources like land, assets and cash. Peri-urban farming offers an important adaptation strategy to weather and climate extremes and through gender mainstreaming, can become a vital tool for sustainable livelihoods and sustainable development. The paper points out that although well-planned cities offer better services to urban communities and their hinterlands, the African cities, particularly, those in Sub-Saharan Africa have been accompanied by myriads of developmental and environmental challenges, which continue to perpetuate inequalities, discrimination and under-development. For instance, the lowincome communities live in risky areas without access to important services which increase their vulnerability to weather and climate induced hazards and disasters. The Paper discusses the links between gender mainstreaming, peri-urban farming, weather and climate extremes and sustainable development in Africa, where literature review is supported by fieldwork results for better policy formulations. This was an invited paper to the conference and is supported by a research gap on the need for gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming to enhance equity and equality for sustainable development. The study was carried out in peri-urban areas of Nairobi (Machakos and Kajiado Counties) in Kenya. The results provide hope as these peri-urban areas seem to have some form of spontaneous gender mainstreaming that when positively supported would yield good results. The Article underscores the fact that a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be achieved by simply targeting the attainment of SDG 5 on gender equality and women empowerment, including SDG 13 on adaptation to climate change. 

Keywords: gender mainstreaming, weather and climate extremes, peri-urban farming, Sub Saharan Africa, cities

Topics: Agriculture, Development, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Livelihoods, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2019

Citation:

Spring, Úrsula Oswald. 2019. "Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals." In Úrsula Oswald Spring: Pioneer on Gender, Peace, Development, Environment, Food and Water, 225-41. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Author: Úrsula Oswald Spring

Keywords: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), women, gender equality, gender perspective, land

Annotation:

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equity, International Organizations

Year: 2019

Citation:

Hasan, Md. Robiul, Mahbuba Nasreen, and Md. Arif Chowdhury. 2019. "Gender-Inclusive Disaster Management Policy in Bangladesh: A Content Analysis of National and International Regulatory Frameworks." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 41.

Authors: Md. Robiul Hasan, Mahbuba Nasreen, Md. Arif Chowdhury

Abstract:

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to disasters in the world. Women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities, and adolescent girls hold the record of being most susceptible to disasters. For ensuring an inclusive disaster risk management, it is essential to include a gender perspective in the national and international policy and regulatory frameworks. The main objective of the study is to examine the status of the inclusion of gender in disaster management processes in the national and international policies and legal documents from the perspective of Bangladesh. In this research, content analysis of national and international policies and legal frameworks was conducted using text mining technique. Ten crucial issues were identified from the available secondary sources such as documents, research publications, and reports. After conducting an assessment of the issues, scoring was done in three categories: mostly, moderately, and marginally addressed issues. Although gender issues have not been addressed at a similar pace, it is revealed that access to early warning system and women empowerment are mostly discussed by the legal frameworks. Also, identification and assessment of gender-related needs, assurance of gender-based income opportunities and equal participation in decision-making issues are addressed moderately. On the other hand, a specific mechanism for gender-inclusive access to relief system, combating gender-based violence, ensuring gender-based security in the shelter, and access to information and resources are marginally addressed. To facilitate gender-inclusive disaster management in Bangladesh, all of the gender-related issues need to be appropriately addressed at the local, national, and international levels.

Keywords: disaster management, national legal frameworks, international legal frameworks, Gender, content analysis, Bangladesh

Topics: Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Citation:

Roy, Sajal. 2019. Climate Change Impacts on Gender Relations in Bangladesh. Singapore: Springer Publications Inc.

Author: Sajal Roy

Annotation:

Summary:
This book explores gendered perceptions of the Sundarbans Forest in Bangladesh, and the extent to which these perceptions are affected by extreme weather events (specifically, cyclones Aila and Sidr). Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Shora, a rural village in southern Satkhira, Bangladesh, the book explores gendered activities in the forest, especially women’s interaction with the forest resources. The findings present a clear picture of the Shora community’s local knowledge about the Sundarbans Forest, as well as the ecological and economic contributions for the forest people. The book makes a timely contribution to the wider study of gender, post-cyclone recovery, ecology and resilience. (Summary from Springer)

Topics: Economies, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Citation:

Quan, Ryan Jeremiah Donato. 2019. "Human Rights and the Gender Dynamics of Climate Change." In Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, edited by Michael Faure, 235-53. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Author: Ryan Jeremiah Donato Quan

Abstract:

Environmental problems affect peoples across the world, most especially marginalized and vulnerable groups, like women. Yet the plight of women who are disproportionately affected by impacts of environmental problems is not high on the priorities of many national governments. The chapter seeks to analyze women’s rights and issues in relation to the most pressing of environmental problems of our age – climate change. In the international field, the relationship between gender equality and the environment are not adequately discussed. While international organizations and non-government organizations have produced studies examining the link between gender issues and climate change, there is considerable lack of State reporting and country-specific data, not only concerning the effects of climate change on women, but also about State action to ensure the rights of women. This chapter examines the legal obligations of States pertaining to human rights of women in the context of climate change. It also considers the extent to which States and the international community, particularly the United Nations system, have addressed this issue. The study includes a discussion of the Sustainable Development Goals as the new way forward. Focus is given to Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 13 on climate action, as well as other related goals such as Goal 1 on poverty, Goal 3 on good health and well-being, Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation, Goal 18 on life below water, Goal 15 on life on land, and Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ylipaa, Josephine, Sara Gabrielsson, and Anne Jerneck. 2019. "Climate Change Adaptation and Gender Inequality: Insights from Rural Vietnam." Sustainability 11 (1): 2805-21.

Authors: Josephine Ylipaa, Sara Gabrielsson, Anne Jerneck

Abstract:

Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially from extreme weather events such as storms and floods. Thus, climate change adaptation is crucial, especially for natural resource-dependent farmers. Based on a qualitative research approach using a feminist political ecology lens, this article investigates gendered patterns of rural agrarian livelihoods and climate adaptation in the province of Thái Bình. In doing so, we identify differentiated rights and responsibilities between female and male farmers, leading to unequal opportunities and immobility for females, making them more vulnerable to climate impacts and threatening to reduce their capacity to adapt. This research also shows that demands on farmers to contribute to perpetual increases in agricultural output by the state poses a challenge, since farming livelihoods in Vietnam are increasingly becoming feminised, as a result of urbanisation and devaluation of farming. Past and present national strategies and provincial implementation plans linked to climate change do not consider the burden affecting rural female farmers, instead the focus lies on addressing technical solutions to adaptation. With little attention being paid to an increasingly female workforce, existing gender inequalities may be exacerbated, threatening the future existence of rural livelihoods and the viability of Vietnam’s expansion into global markets.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change adaptation, gender inequality, feminist political ecology, vulnerability, policy, sustainability, Vietnam

Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Vietnam

Year: 2019

Citation:

Alston, Margaret. 2019. "Gender, Politics, and Water in Australia and Bangladesh." In People and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Social Justice, edited by Lisa Reyes Mason and Jonathan Rigg, 165-83. New York: Oxford University Press.

Author: Margaret Alston

Keywords: water, Gender, women, policy, Australia, Bangladesh

Annotation:

Summary:
In the wake of climate change, environmental degradation, and increasing global populations, food and water security are under threat throughout the world. This chapter focuses on the impacts of climate change on water security in Australia and Bangladesh, noting in particular the gendered implications and the way policies influence and shape gendered responses. In Bangladesh, for example, following disasters, access to safe, uncontaminated water may involve women walking significant distances. Australian research has examined the impact of water policies on gendered livelihood strategies as farming families readjust to their reduced access to irrigation water. A critical feature of this chapter is an examination of the way water has become “commodified” and reconfigured around new forms of market value. The chapter poses questions about the ongoing impact of water insecurity in the face of predicted and extreme climate events. (Summary from Oxford Scholarship Online)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Livelihoods, Security, Food Security Regions: Asia, South Asia, Oceania Countries: Australia, Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Citation:

Oral, Nilufer. 2019. "Climate Change, Oceans and Gender." In Gender and the Law of the Sea, edited by Irini Papanicolopulu, 343-60. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff.

Author: Nilufer Oral

Abstract:

Climate change has traditionally been associated with the atmosphere. However, the important nexus between climate change and the ocean has gained increased recognition in the past few years. Climate change and the oceans brings into play two important but separate regimes: the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. UNCLOS was negotiated a decade before the 1992 UNFCCC. UNCLOS does address gender issues and it was not until the 2015 Paris Agreement that any acknowledgment was given to the place of gender in climate change. Specifically, the preamble of the Paris Agreement calls upon Parties, when taking action to address climate change, to “respect, promote and consider their respective obligations” inter alia “gender equality and empowerment of women. The chapter will provide a brief overview the relationship between climate change and oceans, looking at the existing climate change regime, disaster regime and law of the sea regime, and then examine the place of gender in relation to climate change and oceans in these respective regimes. The chapter will show that there is an imbalanced treatment of gender among the UNFCCC climate change regime, the disaster regime and that of the UNCLOS regime.

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations

Year: 2019

Citation:

Ahmed, Shammi. 2019. "A Gender Sensitive Policy Framework for Disaster Management in Bangladesh." PhD diss., Victoria University.

Author: Shammi Ahmed

Abstract:

Bangladesh has been hit by many catastrophic natural disasters where flooding has become a recurring phenomenon. Such flooding events have particularly severe consequences for relatively poor communities and within these communities’ women tend to be more vulnerable than men. Women’s development and gender issues have increasingly gained prominence and realization of importance (King and Mason 2001). It’s been recognized that empowerment of women is essential in addressing poverty and advancing development. The governments often are, however, shy on placing priority on women’s development and welfare. This particularly applies to times of crisis or disasters, where gender concerns are argued to be a luxury that can only be addressed after the more important matters (IFRC 2006). The socio-economic context in Bangladesh has created a situation where women’s status and roles in a patriarchal society puts them in more vulnerability during the natural disaster as women face particular challenges in fulfilling their traditional roles in regard to gathering food, water, fuel; childcare, livestock as well as pursue diverse sources of income to sustain their households. Several international scholars have noted that a lack of sensitivity to the needs of women has meant that disaster relief and recovery operations have sometimes made things worse for women in the wake of natural disasters.

The research aim is twofold: First to investigate the challenges that women face during flooding events and the effectiveness of disaster relief and recovery work of government and non-government agencies and reflect on their disaster relief policies and its implications. Second, to investigate whether rural community women are disadvantaged compared to urban community women and address the gaps that may exists.

The study focuses on the experiences of women living through natural disasters in two different floodprone communities in Bangladesh; a remote rural community in Munshigonj and an urban community living in Tongi Area, within the vicinity of Dhaka. Predominantly, a qualitative methodology using case study approach was applied. Two modes of data were collected: a survey questionnaire that provided the details of economic conditions (agricultural activities) and demography of the two selected districts; individual face-to-face interviews and focus groups with rural and urban women that have been affected by the floods. In-depth face-to-face interviews were also conducted from the relief agencies as well as government employees and local district leaders.

The findings of the study show that the rural-urban divide is less important than many have predicted and that other factors such as the duration of the flood—is more significant. For example, the study found that lack of money and other resources makes it extremely difficult for women to sustain their coping mechanisms for the duration of a major flooding and the exhaustion of their meagre resources makes it hard for them to rebuild their home and their livelihoods after the flood waters have subsided. This has implications for how and when disaster relief and recovery should be delivered, and the study draws on its case study findings to suggest ways in which government and non-government disaster relief and recovery work in Bangladesh should be made more gender-sensitive.

The findings also showed that the number of agencies involved in disaster relief and recovery work in Bangladesh has multiplied in recent years and this makes it harder to ensure that consistent policies and practices are followed. Despite the participation of various organizations in disaster prevention, survival and recovery, there is absence of women sensitive policies that addresses women’s specific challenges. These findings not only have implications for Bangladesh but draws attention for international significance. Several future directions for research are developed based on the findings.

Topics: Development, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh

Year: 2019

Citation:

Forbes-Biggs, Kylah. 2020. "Applying a Gender Lens to Reduce Disaster Risk in Southern Africa: The Role of Men’s Organisations." In How Gender Can Transform the Social Sciences, edited by Marian Sawer, Fiona Jenkins, and Karen Downing, 169-76. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Author: Kylah Forbes-Biggs

Abstract:

Gender inequality has been a pervasive problem in Southern Africa. It challenges development and welfare, dissuades good governance practices and entrenches social vulnerabilities that contribute to increased disaster and climate risk. The decisive shift towards focusing on women and girls not only in development but also in disaster risk management has been successful in bringing critical issues to the fore at national and international levels. Yet it can overlook the needs of men and boys and hence forego opportunities for more inclusive discussion and collaboration. The case is being made in Southern Africa to involve men’s organisations in promoting social justice. Creating spaces for dialogue in this way will promote understanding of gendered vulnerability and disaster risk.

Keywords: men's organisations, gender inequality, vulnerability, disaster risk, open dialogue, Southern Africa

Topics: Development, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Men, Boys, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance Regions: Africa, Southern Africa

Year: 2020