This statement was broadcasted at the 53rd Session of the Human Rights Council Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change. Click here for the video statement.
My name is Menka Goundan and I am making this statement on behalf of the Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW).
We acknowledge the report of the Special Rapporteur and agree with the urgency of the climate crisis and the realities of displacement it poses to people all over the world. Climate change is not a gender-neutral phenomenon as it disproportionately impacts women, girls in all their diversities, and gender non-binary individuals due to pre-existing gender inequalities that are perpetuated by social practices, structures, and institutions. Displacement, whether climate-induced or disaster-induced, has adverse effects on the realization of the full range of human rights for women and girls.
One of the many disproportionate impacts of climate crises especially on women, girls, and gender non-binary people includes the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights becomes even more challenging in this context as SRHR is already least prioritized in many countries and contexts in before the onset of disaster and displacement.
The Asia and Pacific regions are at the forefront of experiencing the impact of climate change and its related disasters. The Pacific Islands are already experiencing this stark reality. Some 1,700 residents of Carteret Island, Papua New Guinea’s 2,500 inhabitants have been named the world’s first environmental refugees and more than 20,000 Marshallese climate refugees have emigrated to the United States of America because of the effects of climate change.
We call on states to consider with importance:
- National strategies and plans such as the National Adaptation Plans must; include ways for early identification of communities at risk of displacement due to climate change to support successful relocation that respects human rights and this must be carried out in consultation with the affected communities; incorporate gender mainstreaming and sexual and reproductive health and rights and include gender-differentiated impact analysis of climate change disasters and gender equality in line with the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Uphold sexual and reproductive health and rights and acknowledge its co-benefits in contributing to climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience.
- Close data gaps by collecting accurate, accessible and timely gender-, age- and disability-disaggregated data for gender transformative policies and plans. Effective climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction response are dependent on robust gender-disaggregated data.