The Female Face of Southern Africa's Climate Crisis

Jan 14, 2020 | Mark Lowcock and Natalia Kanem
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The global climate crisis is not gender neutral. Around the world, women and girls are on the front line of changing weather patterns – disproportionately shouldering the costs and burdens.

In Southern Africa, some 12 million people currently face severe food insecurity across nine countries as a result of drought, cyclones, and floods.

But it is women and girls who are particularly affected. They are more likely than men to be already living in poverty; they lack access to land despite dominating food production; and they carry the weight of caring for their ailing families.

This climate crisis is also eroding their basic right to safety and protection. It heightens problematic – and dangerous – gender norms that generate increased risks of violence for women and girls.

What to do?