State of Gender Equality and Climate Change in South Asia and the HKH Region

September 30, 2022

“State of Gender Equality and Climate Change in South Asia and the HKH Region” report was released by the ICIMOD on September 29, 2022.

Key findings

The newly released report assessed the state of gender equality and climate change in climate-affected sectors like agriculture, water and energy.
It focused on 10 countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Limited government interventions: The report found that governments of countries in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) are doing very little to mitigate the adverse impact caused by climate change on women. However, these countries’ national policy recognize that women are more vulnerable to climate change.
Migration: China, India, Nepal and Pakistan are witnessing climate change-induced migrations of men. While men leave in search of better job opportunities, they leave behind women, children and elderly. This has increased the workload on female population.
Informal employment: Women are involved as informal workforce in the agriculture sector. There are no regional and national policies to protect these women labourers.
Government policy limitations: policy documents of governments in South Asia and HKH regions do not focus on the gender-based pay gap. They also do not address women’s lack or limited access to or control over resources required for agricultural activities. Their needs are not considered while creating policies on groundwater or irrigation since such policies are tied to land rights, which are mostly held by men.
NDCs and NAPCC categorized as gender-sensitive: Nationally Determined Contributions and National Action Plan for Climate Change are gender sensitive since they recognize climate change-related gender problems. India’s NDC acknowledges the importance of gender equality and women empowerment. However, it does not provide measures to achieve it. India’s NAPCC, 2008 recognizes that women are more vulnerable to climate crisis but does not provide measures to address this issue.
Recommendations: The report calls for conducting of gender equality and social inclusion-sensitive assessments. It also recommends monitoring and evaluating interventions in the agriculture, energy and water sector to make policies more gender-inclusive. It also calls for guaranteeing the meaningful participation of women and vulnerable groups in policy dialogues. Strengthening of knowledge sharing mechanisms was also recommended.