Toxic mix drowns women

HARDEST HIT: EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE MAKES LIFE MORE TENUOUS

- MARY IZOBO

In today's world, climate change is no longer just an environmental issue - it's a catalyst for conflict and insecurity.

What is often overlooked is how this toxic mix impacts women and girls the hardest, especially in fragile and conflict-affected regions. When water sources dry up, droughts wipe out crops and the land becomes infertile, competition for resources becomes violent.

Women-led and gender-sensitive climate action in Africa is key to sustainable peace, political stability and greater socioeconomic equality. From the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to southern Africa, climate change fuels conflicts over resources like land, food and water, turning communities and countries against each other. In all of this chaos, women and girls bear the brunt.

The effects of climate change and insecurity exacerbate existing gender inequalities, especially in countries facing economic and social inequalities, political instability and resource scarcity. This places women and girls at the epicentre of displacement, violence and economic vulnerability. Women and girls must walk further for water, risking their safety and education. Displacement due to climate disasters pushes them into overcrowded camps, where sexual violence skyrockets.

» Females at epicentre of displacement, violence.