Conversations with Africa

When it comes to the sociological dimensions of climate change, gender is cross-cutting. Climate vulnerability and its consequences not only reflect existing gender inequality; they also reinforce and exacerbate socially constructed relations of power, norms, and practices that constrain progress toward gender equality in both developed and developing countries. This includes gender roles and responsibilities that confine women’s activities and mobility to the home, traditions and laws that limit women’s access to natural, financial, and social capital, and thus their ability to cope with climate shocks and to adapt to climate change; and norms that inhibit women’s ability to access information, knowledge, skills, and capacity building that could be life-saving during and after a weather-related disaster.

Panelists: Divine Ntiokam (Cameroon), Adapoe Margaret (Cameroon), Imma Mkong (Cameroon), Maria Horne (Uganda)