According to a commentary published by Kyodo News, climate change and natural disasters do not discriminate, but the real burden falls heavily on women and girls, particularly in Nepal, a country that has just been through severe floods.
The article stresses that within affected populations, women and girls tend to suffer the greatest losses and are the least able to recover quickly. The reason given is pre-existing inequality, which leaves them facing more barriers in accessing resources, support services and opportunities to rebuild their lives after a disaster.
According to the piece, those most marginalized in society are also the most vulnerable and the least able to escape the cycle of hardship that follows a catastrophe. This shows that flood response and recovery programs need to take gender into account, to ensure that women and girls are not left behind in the process of rebuilding after the disaster.
The commentary was published as Nepal confronts the increasingly visible effects of climate change, with extreme weather events such as floods forecast to keep rising in both frequency and intensity.
