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Connecting Gender, Conflict and Climate

Illustration from the report 'Women at the Intersection of Gender, Conflict & Climate Justice by GAGGA


On March 12, the Equality Fund, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office hosted an event at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) exploring the nexus of gender, conflict, and climate. Each speaker underscored the deep interconnections between these critical issues.

Hillary Clauson, Senior Policy Advisor at the Equality Fund, opened the session by providing an overview of this nexus, emphasizing the vital role of feminist responders in crisis situations.

Noemi Grütter, Alliance Coordinator at GAGGA, followed with a presentation on their newly released report, Women at the Intersection of Gender, Conflict & Climate Justice. She explained that the report seeks to reframe the discourse by presenting the nexus through the lived experiences of those most affected. 

Key findings included:

  • Reclaiming land and livelihood: Community-based land defence
  • Building collective strength: Women’s economic cooperatives
  • Alternative education and political awareness
  • Women-led climate adaptation: Sustainable, women-led land management
  • Navigating militarization and gender-based violence: Networks of resistance
  • The need for flexible, long-term core funding

The report was informed by women across multiple countries who have firsthand experience with these intersecting crises. One highlighted case study featured the Women Environmental Programme Burkina, an organisation dedicated to sustainable development by empowering women as agents of change. Zenabou Segda, Chairwoman of the Women Environmental Program Burkina, participated in the panel, stressing that land is at the heart of resistance against conflict, climate change, and extractivism. She emphasized the devastating impact of displacement, stating: 

How can we cultivate when we are fleeing?
Zeina Abdel Khalik, Executive Director of the Doria Feminist Fund, further elaborated on how crises exacerbate unpaid care work, disproportionately burdening women and reducing their resilience. She pointed out that while women are key seasonal agricultural workers, they often do not own the land they cultivate, leaving them more vulnerable. She concluded by highlighting the chronic underfunding of efforts addressing the gender-conflict-climate nexus and called for the integration of gender and climate considerations into conflict response strategies.

Closing the session, Tynesha McHarris, Co-Founder of the Black Feminist Fund, examined racial and gendered hierarchies within conflict, particularly questioning who gets to define a crisis. She emphasised that these hierarchies shape who is deemed worthy of rescue and support, reinforcing systemic inequalities. 

By Cléo Dorel-Watson, WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform


Recommended reading:

  • GAGGA’s latest report here
  • WO=MEN's latest report here (jointly with ActionAid, Both ENDS, Care, Milieudefensie, Simavi, WECF) - also available in English.

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