Women and girls are among the hardest hit by the climate emergency, but fewer than one-third of countries that have published their climate plans have committed to upholding the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, according to new findings by UNFPA, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency.
The report Taking Stock: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Climate Commitments: A Global Review, is being published and launched in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London. In a global first, the report examines the climate plans of 119 countries and whether they integrate access to contraception, safe birthing, and protecting women and girls from gender-based violence into their adaptation goals. Many countries have made commendable progress in highlighting sexual and reproductive health and rights in their plans, but a majority fall short.
“The climate crisis is not gender-neutral. In those countries most at-risk, women and girls are disproportionately affected even though they have contributed the least to the global climate emergency,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “Highlighting emerging evidence of the impacts of climate change on the health and wellbeing of women and girls – from increased poverty and food insecurity to poorer maternal health outcomes to increased risk of gender-based violence and harmful practices – this review is a timely reminder of why it is so critical that countries prioritize sexual and reproductive health and rights in their climate strategies.”
Key findings include:
- 38 out of 119 countries integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights in national climate plans.
- Many countries recognize the direct and indirect impact of climate change on maternal and newborn health. Heat exposure can increase infant and maternal mortality (South Sudan) and pose risks to pregnant women and those in the process of menopause (Côte d’Ivoire).
- Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate-crisis-driven food insecurity and malnutrition and they make up the majority of the malnourished in the four countries where famine or famine-like conditions are present, (Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan).
- Other countries outlined the need to build climate-resilient health systems that can respond to extreme weather events (Paraguay) and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes (Seychelles, Benin).
- Nine countries include a description of policies or interventions to address the increase in the incidence of gender-based violence in the context of climate change (the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Sierra Leone, Comoros, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Jordan, Tunisia, and Guinea).
The report is being launched in London at 10 a.m. BST, weeks before national leaders and policymakers attend a critical global climate summit, COP28, in Dubai.
