By Alison Malmqvist, Director, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, PSI Global; Odette Hekster, Managing Director, PSI Europe
The United Nations (UN) estimates that women and girls account for 80 percent of the people displaced by climate change and are more likely to die and suffer from climate disasters. By 2050, climate change may force up to 158 million women and girls into poverty and 236 million into food insecurity.
Acknowledging the urgency and linkage between the climate and health crises, Member States at the 77th World Health Assembly adopted the Resolution on Climate Change and Health, marking an important step toward our collective commitment to integrate solutions to today’s greatest challenges.
At Population Service International (PSI), we see climate change as not only an environmental crisis, but also a health and gender equality crisis because of the disproportionate impact on women and girls. At the same time, when we invest in their potential, these women and girls are uniquely situated to be agents of change. To build a world where girls and women not only survive but thrive, we must put gender and health at the center of climate investments.
Building more resilient health systems
Health systems are the foundation for individual and community level resilience. They serve as a critical structure when climate hazards strike. Climate change disrupts health systems and access to medical services, which can exacerbate health challenges. Communities that are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change often face an unmet need for health services, and reproductive health services in particular.
To strengthen health systems in the face of climate change, PSI is shaping markets for self-care and establishing resilient supply chains, expanding access to healthcare by putting essential health technologies directly in the hands of individuals. While self-care can never fully replace the need for in-person support, self-care and digital health technologies are equipping women and girls to self-manage their health during (and beyond) climate-induced crises. It means improved access to self-care tools like self-testing for HIV, hepatitis C and B, COVID-19, and pregnancy, self-injectable contraceptives, self-sampling for cervical cancer and STI screening.
Similarly, we are building on 50+ years of experience leading rapid evidence generation, social and behavior change interventions, and digital solutions to design effective, tailored approaches to improve health security and prepare for future pandemics. We know that climate change affects infectious disease transmission, including malaria, with a disproportionate impact on women during pregnancy and the children they care for. In 2022, flooding in Pakistan resulted in 2.1 million excess malaria cases, and early detection and treatment could have prevented 600,000 deaths. In response, we are supporting local partners to develop stronger disease surveillance and reporting systems, strengthen capacity at all levels to respond to public emergencies, and ensure local communities are engaged from the onset.
Climate solutions that work for women and girls’
The global health community too often works in verticals. Women and girls don’t live in verticals. They are whole people living in a whole context. The challenge is there are limited funding opportunities for the kinds of integrated approaches that require a multi-sectoral response. There is not a great deal of investment at the intersection of climate and health, and even less when we are investing in the health of women and girls.
That is why, in places like Ethiopia, we are hearing from girls and young women directly to understand their experiences, hopes and desires for the future. They have told us that their world is changing and that they feel left behind. Building on the Smart Start program as a unique entry point for multi-sectoral investments in the lives of girls and young women, we aim to advance girls and young women’s economic power and potential. This is done in partnership with organizations investing in dignified work opportunities as part of the Government of Ethiopia’s goal to increase the proportion of women and youth who are engaging in income-generating activities and participating in the labor market. We know that improved health leads to economic empowerment for women and greater involvement in social and political activities. In turn, this serves to broaden and strengthen community participation in climate resilience and adaptation, including engagement in green economy initiatives and natural resource management.
We’re also supporting women at the intersection of health, sanitation and climate through market-based sanitation programs that develop climate-resilient products and support a better selection of quality and durable technologies that are more resilient to climate crises. Recognizing the burden women bear in managing household hygiene, these programs actively engage them in market-based sanitation, training them as mason installers, sales agents, and retailers. They are the leaders building resilient sanitation solutions that mitigate the environmental impact of sanitation, while fostering their economic independence, and uplifting families and communities.
Fostering multi-sectoral engagement
We know that a multi-sectoral response works. In conversations with our partners across the climate space, it is clear that we are connected by a commitment to the communities and people that we work with, and we are passionate about finding innovative, multi-sectoral ways to work together. We use different acronyms and frameworks, but ultimately, we all want people, communities and ecosystems to thrive together.
We must integrate improvements in human health with interventions for climate resilience like smart agricultural practices, sustainable diversified livelihoods, and actions to mitigate human wildlife contact. Through this approach, we can work together to improve women and girls’ health and well-being, and in turn, they can play a role in building climate-resilient communities.
Together, we can integrate solutions to the world’s greatest challenges and use the Resolution on Climate Change and Health as our north star. We look forward to the start of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) next week where we will connect with climate and health leaders around the world and continue to align our goals to transform health together.
Join us in working at the climate-health-gender nexus and learn more here.
