Climate Disasters ‘Block Access to Women’s Healthcare’

In accordance to a survey, disasters brought on by climate change increase the vulnerability of women and girls since crucial health services, like family planning, are neglected during such times.

According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), situations like violent storms prevent access to sexual and reproductive health care. In turn, this raises the likelihood of maternal death, unwanted pregnancies, gender-based violence, and kids getting married.

The UNFPA East and Southern Africa regional office’s population dynamics adviser, Angela Baschieri, asserts that disruptions in service delivery are frequent during emergencies related to climate change. Providing accessibility to family planning services, delivery facilities, and several other life-saving procedures. The significantly less fortunate and those who are at risk particularly depend on these consequences.at-risk.”

The report reviewed crucial climate change documents referred to as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It examined exactly how gender and health issues, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, were regarded in national climate action frameworks, plans and methods.

The report reviewed crucial climate change documents referred to as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It examined exactly how gender and health issues, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, were regarded in national climate action frameworks, plans and methods.

The analysis shows alarming gaps in countries’ national climate policies and recommends adaptation actions to respond to the repercussion of climate change on women and girls, delivering hopes of achieving good health and gender equality.

From 5 UNFPA regions – the Arab States, Asia and Pacific, Western and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean – scientists examined the NDC’s from 50 countries.

From 5 UNFPA regions – the Arab States, Asia and Pacific, Western and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean – scientists examined the NDC’s from 50 countries. Trafficking, early and forced marriages, domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and rape are a few of the sorts of gender-based violence common in humanitarian emergencies, says Baschieri.

She adds that increasing drought implies women and girls journey longer distances to gather water and firewood, subjecting them to sexual and gender-based violence.

In Zimbabwe, which has suffered consecutive years of dry spells, women make up 65 percent of individuals involved in fetching water, compared to 35 percent males, according to its Nationally Determined Contributions for 2021.

Women and girls in African nations such as Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda, now affected by climate change, typically suffer from the aggravating impact from cyclones and serious dry spells, states Baschieri.

Evaluations conducted by UNFPA in Mozambique in the wake of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019 revealed elevated hazards for women and girls, including violence against women.

In addition to losing their jobs and support networks, many women also found themselves cut off from their families and neighborhood networks, according to Baschieri. “Girls who are unable to enroll in school, for instance, run the risk of being married off by parents who can no longer support them if they have lost their sources of wealth.”

Baschieri recommends authorities in Africa to include plans for disaster risk reduction and sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to provide opportunities for youth.

According to her, “Climate policymakers must take targeted and daring steps to ensure that the foundation of climate policies is established on a handful of these important attributes. Advocate of sexual and reproductive health rights in Nigeria, Tijani Salami, concurs that climate change catastrophes have had an influence on health care systems and sexual and reproductive health rights.

Salami, a chief medical officer at the Federal University of Technology Minna in Nigeria, asserts that this is an old problem that has been ignored, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Health services for people in such places are typically impacted by disasters… But tragically, it has always been accepted practice to ignore the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls when feedbacks begin.

According to him, African governments need to increase funding for sexual and reproductive health and develop platforms that cater to the needs of women and girls affected by disasters. During the long run, we should build resilient communities that can lessen the impact on health when a climate-induced crisis occurs,” he adds.

Originally published on Phys.org. Read the original article.