Short Abstract:

Despite centuries of rapid economic and social progress worldwide, societies across the world remain steeped in gender inequality. It stands to reason, therefore, that the impact of any adverse situations, including those brought on by climate change will be intersectional and multidimensional for women and other marginalized members of society. This study aims to examine the same.

Long Abstract:

Gender inequality is a prevalent social evil that has persisted for centuries despite rapid economic and social progress. The multidimensional nature of this phenomenon is a relatively under-explored subject. Women and other marginalized members of society are largely seen to be deprived in the most basic dimensions, although the extent differs according to context. This includes basic facets of life such as health. The present paper aims to first establish the gendered nature of health inequality in developing countries, with South Asian and South-East Asian countries. The Alkire-Foster measure will be used to create a composite measure of health deprivation. Principal Component Analysis will be used to narrow down the exact determinants of access to and quality of healthcare received - including but not limited to, emergency care, general healthcare, treatment of chronic and acute illnesses, antenatal care, and other sexual and reproductive healthcare. Sub-group analysis by income, place of residence, and region/sub-region will also be conducted. The next section of the paper proposes to probe further into the gendered impacts of adverse climate events. The South Asian subcontinent and a few countries in the South-East Asian belt specifically suffer from quite a huge range of adverse climate events such as wildfires, droughts, flooding, landslides and so on. These are often brought on by larger climatic phenomena such as El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and so on. To establish a causal relationship between these adverse climate events and gendered health inequality, the paper proposes to use a mix of quantitative methods. As before, PCA will be used to construct the composite health deprivation measure through the Alkire-Foster method, to determine that health inequality exists. Since climate data is most likely to be found as time-series country/region data, we would need to get a health deprivation measure for each point in time the adverse climate event has happened. A multivariable regression will then be used to establish the causal relationship between climate change and health inequality. It is important to note here, that these climate events often result in the stoppage of services and bottlenecks in the delivery of relief. Therefore, a separate note as to whether these climate events have deepened inequality in access, delivery, or quality of healthcare services will also be included. As we would be limiting our country focus to South Asian and South-East Asian countries, the creation of this measure will be more feasible. In the remaining sections, the paper aims to provide a more qualitative report of climate change mitigation measures taken in these countries. This qualitative coverage would aim to also examine whether these programs, policies, or measures are gender-responsive and inclusive - i.e. have equity considerations been incorporated, and were the panel of decision-makers inclusive by nature? Finally, this paper also aims to provide policy recommendations based on the findings - the impact of climate change on already-persistent health inequalities and the gendered nature of the same would help make mitigation and rebuilding policies and programs more inclusive. On the other hand, the qualitative coverage of the existing climate change mitigation policies and the possible lacunae in their inclusivity would make the case for further use of the capabilities approach in policy-making and health research.