Vanuatu, an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The country is ranked 142nd out of 187 countries on the ND-GAIN Index, which calculates a country’s vulnerability to climate change and other global challenges. As such, Vanuatu has focussed on increasing its disaster preparedness and climate resilience. This includes enhancing early warning systems, implementing more robust building codes, and increasing community awareness and preparedness programs. One of the pillars of Vanuatu 2030, the People’s Plan is to build a strong and resilient nation in the face of climate change and disaster risks posed by natural and man-made hazards.
Vanuatu has also focussed extensively on gender-responsive climate resilience. The country has made sure that its climate-action initiatives are gender inclusive and ensure that the principle of leaving no one behind. The theme of gender-responsive climate resilience underpins the country’s major policy frameworks such as the National Gender Equality Strategy, National Policy on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction 2016- 2030 and Department of Climate Change Strategic Plan 2021–2023.
One of the strategic areas of the country’s National Gender Equality Strategy calls for fostering gender-responsive and community-driven solutions to climate and disaster resilience. It recognises that climate change and disaster risks have different impacts on women and men. Gender roles and inequalities can exacerbate the vulnerability of women and girls to natural hazards. For instance, women and girls in Vanuatu are typically involved in household food production, cooking, fetching water and caring for children and the elderly. A major crisis like a cyclone, volcanic eruption or health pandemic can intensify the workloads of women and girls they are expected to continue providing and caring for their families during difficult circumstances. One of the objectives of the strategy calls for strengthening gender responsiveness of climate change and disaster institutions and decision-making processes. The strategy also recommends the integration of the gender and social protection outcome into climate change and disaster-related legislation, policies and programs by 2030. The strategy also recommends that women-led initiatives that contribute towards low carbon growth and adaptation are funded and implemented by 2030. Vanuatu’s National Policy on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction 2016-2030 also notes gender and social inclusion under the section on cross-cutting issues, acknowledges women’s exclusion from leadership and participation, and the need for women to be represented. Department of Climate Change Strategic Plan 2021–2023 values equity (including participation of women), recognition of gender equality as a cross-cutting issue in climate change, and collaboration with the Department of Women’s Affairs as a key activity.
Many initiatives and programmes are aimed at supporting the strengthening of women’s leadership and participation in Vanuatu. The Department of Women’s Affairs, which sits under the Ministry of Justice and Community Services, co-leads the Gender and Protection co-leads the Gender and Protection Cluster, and provides policy guidance and leadership to the Council of Ministers, Parliament, and international development organisations on issues related to women, children and persons with disabilities. The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) supports local women through training, network building, and research to ensure women’s rights and needs are met in climate change and humanitarian disaster response.
A research published in 2022 by UN Women titled, ‘Leading For Resilience: Women’s Leadership In Disaster And Climate Resilience In Vanuatu’ found that women’s leadership and participation in disaster and climate resilience is improving in certain spaces in Vanuatu. The research found that at the national level, there has been progress in women’s leadership in the Gender and Protection Cluster, acknowledgement of the importance of women’s leadership through the development of the recent Gender Equality Policy and advocacy, supported by research in partnership with International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) that elevates the voices and experiences of women.
In March 2024, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and National Disaster Management and the Department of Women’s Affairs held a workshop in the country’s capital Port Villa to discuss Vanuatu’s policy commitments, report on progress, share success stories and discuss recommendations to strengthen gender-responsive climate and disaster resilience in Vanuatu and globally. Ministry of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology and Geo-Hazards, Energy, Environment and National Disaster Management and Department of Women’s Affairs, Acting Director General Abraham Nasak stated that Vanuatu’s commitment to gender equality extends beyond international agreements. During the workshop, UNDP Pacific Office Resilience and Climate Change Team Leader (Officer in Charge), Mohseen Dean also commended Vanuatu’s journey towards gender-responsive climate resilience.
