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- Convenors:
-
Olajumoke Adeyeye
(International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria)
Olamide Nwanze (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture)
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- Format:
- Paper panel
- Stream:
- Climate emergency and development
- Location:
- S208, 2nd floor Senate Building
- Sessions:
- Friday 28 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel will seek evidence on how the design and implementation of social protection programs can intersect with gender to build the agency and economic resilience of the vulnerable, especially women, to climate change challenges.
Long Abstract:
There is a growing body of literature examining the relationship between climate change (CC) challenges and social protection (SP) (Costella et al., 2017, 2023; Kuriakose et al., 2013; Rana et al., 2022; Ulrichs et al., 2019). However, many of these studies are gender-blind or at best consider gender issues at the periphery. In addition, they focus on how social protection can build the resilience of vulnerable groups to intensifying climate hazards and disasters, with little attention paid to the potential of SP to address slow onset climate events (SOEs), non-economic losses, and human mobility (Aleksandrova, 2019a). Studies have shown that the impact of CC challenges, resilience to vulnerabilities and risks, and coping mechanisms are disproportionately gendered (Holmes et al., 2019; Meinzen-Dick et al., 2011) and that SOEs will have disproportionately greater negative impacts on the well-being of vulnerable groups, especially women and children (Nelson, 2011). Hence, the existing patterns of inequality between men and women may be accentuated when gender-blind, social protection design features are overlaid on existing power inequalities and social norms (Nelson, 2011). Using empirical and theoretical evidence from climate hotspots, this panel will assess how different social protection design features influence the agency of women as well as their economic empowerment to build resilience capacity to climate change challenges.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 28 June, 2024, -Paper short abstract:
Research on gender issues in climate adaptation and resilience on the one hand and gendered outcomes of social protection programs on the other hand have remained largely separate. This narrative review explores the gap between both bodies of gender research with a specific focus on the Sahel region
Paper long abstract:
Several decades following the prolonged drought in the Sahel in the late 20th century, the negative effects of drought are still prevalent across different regions in the Sahelian country. With the increasing climate shocks and extreme events such as droughts and heavy rains, the Sahel region remained one of the key climate hotspots in the world. Due to the greater vulnerability of the Sahel region to climate change, there have been calls for more gender-responsive design and implementation of social protection responses to climate change challenges across levels and scales in Sahel countries. This narrative review explores the gap between two bodies of gender research; gender and social protection and gender and climate resilience, with a specific focus on the Sahel region. The Gender Responsive Age-Sensitive Social Protection (GRASSP) framework is used to assess the (still limited) evidence on connections between gender, social protection, and climate change in six gender equality outcome areas— economic security and empowerment, women’s voice and agency, protection, health, education, and psychosocial well-being. Emerging linkages between both research strands include interactions between climate adaptation strategies and features of social protection programs. Also, the importance of addressing inequitable gender norms in social protection design as well as for climate resilience became evident in several GRASSP areas. Overall, engagement between both research communities needs to be strengthened, for instance through the research questions provided.
Paper short abstract:
The authors are eager to share the intersection of culture, climate change, & gender-specific needs post-natural disasters in the Philippines & Southeast Asia. By conceptualising the term "Normalisation of Inconvenience" it reflects the lack of gender-specific & sustainable climate change policies.
Paper long abstract:
In 2021, Typhoon Rai (locally named as “Odette”), a Category-5 typhoon was the strongest and costliest typhoon, just eight years after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Siargao Islands, a thriving tourist destination, was considered as one of the most damaged and affected areas with 217,000 individuals displaced mostly living in and below the poverty line, 1,700 of which were pregnant women as hospitals and health centres were severely damaged, while 30 protection centres for women and children were no longer functioning (UNFPA, 2022). Following our initial findings, climate change policies and disaster response and risk mitigation practices overlook gender-specific needs of women in the rapid response stage due that women assume unpaid labour in both household and community work. The study has now progressed in examining how the “Normalisation of Inconvenience” in other parts of the Philippines which extends in other Southeast Asian countries and its lack of gender-specific climate change policies. Through qualitative research methodologies, this study poses the question on how the “Normalisation of Inconvenience” reflect the region’s climate change policies and post-natural disaster initiatives affect the mobility and economic well-being of women. Lastly, the authors conceptualises the term “Normalisation of Inconvenience” reflecting the intertwining of natural disasters as a frequent life experience exemplifying the lack of demanding sustainable climate change policies.
Keywords: Typhoon Rai, Natural Disasters, Climate Change, Vulnerabilities, Women, Informal Sector, Poverty Line, Siargao, Philippines, Southeast Asia
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines how the UN Joint RCCE project in Nigeria addressed the gendered impacts of COVID-19 through risk communication and social protection interventions. It analyzes the factors that enabled or constrained women’s access to and benefits from the project
Paper long abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing gender inequalities and vulnerabilities in Nigeria, especially for women in marginalized communities. The UN Joint RCCE project in Nigeria aimed to mitigate the socio-economic and health effects of the pandemic by providing risk communication, community engagement, and social protection activities for the most at-risk women, adolescent girls, and vulnerable groups. This paper evaluates the design and implementation of the project, focusing on the social protection component that involved unconditional small grants for women. It draws on literature review, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to assess the outcomes and challenges of the project. It identifies the factors that influenced women’s access to and benefits from the project, such as awareness, eligibility, targeting, delivery, accountability, and empowerment. It also discusses the implications of the project for social justice and development in a polarizing world. The paper contributes to the panel theme by providing empirical evidence and lessons learned on how social protection programs can intersect with gender to build the agency and economic resilience of the vulnerable to climate change and other shocks. It also offers recommendations for improving the design and implementation of future social protection interventions in Nigeria and beyond.