Gender Lens, Essential in Global Response to Climate-Induced Migration

Mar 8, 2022 | Renate Held
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Vienna, International Women’s Day 2022 – Some people think of migration as a relatively new phenomenon: the “unfinished business of globalization”. Others call it humanity’s oldest poverty-reduction strategy.

Some see it as male-dominated, as thousands of men converge on mega construction projects around the globe. Others say it’s mainly female, pointing to the many women who migrate as domestic workers and medical staff.

Two things are certain. First, migration is a matter of perspective. And second, migration is dynamic, constantly changing.

Over the past two decades, the impacts of climate change on migration have been in sharp focus. We know that floods and droughts are more frequent and more severe. The world is warming at an alarming rate, and the impact is keenly seen in human mobility patterns.