A climate crisis is a gender equality crisis: Life on small island states in the Pacific

The 65 million people living in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Each and every climate-related disaster - which are becoming stronger and more frequent - poses a risk to people's lives, livelihoods, homes, safety and access to services.

This risk is not gender-neutral. During a crisis, incidences of gender-based violence (GBV) increase, while services, including GBV-support and life-saving maternal and newborn health care are disrupted, at a time when they're most needed.

We see, here in the Pacific, some of the ways that UNFPA is responding in order to protect women and girls living on the climate crisis front line, and the impact on the lives of people who are least responsible for the climate emergency.

Eroding access to healthcare

Dr. Leeanne Panisi is the Solomon Island's first and only female obstetrician. She leads a team managing obstetric complications and emergencies for the Solomon Islands' Ministry of Health, based at the National Referral Hospital in the capital, Honiara. Dr. Panisi sees how climate disaster after climate disaster is eroding women's access to life-saving care.

"Climate change has definitely affected health services in the Solomon Islands," says Dr. Panisi.

"In places where there used to be roads, there are now rocks, the sea has broken the road.

Imagine a pregnant woman seeking help to go to the nearest clinic when she has to travel through that." Dr. Panisi plays a key role in keeping UNFPA's midwifery training up-to-date.

Retired midwives in reserve

UNFPA maintains a roster of retired midwives in Fiji who are trained to work in humanitarian contexts. The midwives, with a wealth of experience between them, can be called upon during disasters, in Fiji and beyond. With UNFPA's support and training, they set up women and girl friendly spaces and birthing spaces and provide surge staffing that is so desperately needed in an emergency.

Litia Naralulu is a retired Fijian midwife who has lived and worked through multiple climate disasters. She recalls a deployment to Vanuatu following Cyclone Pam in 2015, one of the most intense tropical cyclones to hit the South Pacific Ocean. 

"When we got there it was chaotic. The nurses and other health care workers had been working non-stop at the hospital. They hadn't gone to their homes or seen their families in weeks. So we stepped in and relieved them for a few weeks so they could go and be with their families and most importantly, get some rest," says Litia.

The care and support that midwives are able to provide is far reaching, as Sister Aiva Pikuri, a senior midwife in Goroka, Papua New Guinea explains: "Trained midwives can deliver services beyond antenatal care, labour and delivery: They offer family planning, postnatal care as well as addressing gender-based violence and adolescent health services."

Aiva would like to see more training for specialist midwives, including counseling skills.

"Midwives are on the front line to screen for gender-based violence and offer help," says Aiva.

Specialist GBV services must be a key component of any climate crisis response, during which women and girls who have been displaced by destruction are rendered more vulnerable.

Climate crisis = gender equality crisis

The climate crisis is rolling back progress on maternal health and gender equality.

As the 4th International Conference on Small Islands Developing States meets 27-30 May 2024 in Antigua and Barbuda, it is imperative that wealthy countries responsible for climate damage extend financial and technical support to nations that are disproportionately affected. And women and girls' rights must be central to the response.