While everyone everywhere is subject to the effects of climate change, women and girls face heightened risks. This project explores the impact of climate change on women and girls in Jordan with a particular focus on gender-based violence (GBV).
The issue
The climate crisis is one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. The detrimental effects of climate change can be felt in the short-term through natural hazards and in the long-term, through the gradual degradation of the environment. Among groups which are expected to be disproportionately affected by climate change are the poor. As women constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are proportionally more dependent on threatened natural resources, they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. 70% of the 1.3 billion people living in conditions of poverty are women. In urban areas, 40% of the poorest households are headed by women. Furthermore, there are differences in the roles, responsibilities, decision making and access to land and natural resources held by women and men. Worldwide, women have less access than men to resources such as decision-making structures, land, credit, and technology, limiting their capacity to adapt to climate change. Patriarchy is considered one of the main factors which result in the imbalance in power relations between men and women, and in the context of climate change, as a reason behind the increased vulnerability of women to the adverse impacts of climate change.
About the project
Sama Consulting and the Information and Research Center – King Hussein Foundation, with support from UNFPA, are conducting this research to highlight the impact of climate change on women and girls in Jordan with a particular focus on gender-based violence (GBV). The research will be based on an extensive review of literature related to climate change and GBV as well as key informant interviews with gender and environmental experts.
