ActionAid UK report: Climate crisis worsens gender inequality in conflict, with 90% GBV surge in DRC and 84% dropout rate in Somaliland.
At COP29, ActionAid UK has launched its latest report, Leading Climate Action: Women Confronting Loss and Damage in Fragile and Conflict Affected States. As food and water scarcity worsens, women and girls are bearing the brunt of the economic and gendered consequences of climate change. The report, supported found that:
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In the DRC, 90% of women reported an increased risk of GBV due to conflict and climate change
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In Nigeria, over two-thirds of the women (65%) attributed girls' school dropout to climate change or conflict. School dropout rates lead to higher risks of GBV in Benue State (39%) compared to Nasarawa State (26%), while women in Nasarawa State reported higher risks of poverty, early marriage, and pregnancy
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In Somaliland, 84% linked girls' school dropout rates to climate change or conflict. Nearly half (46%) viewed the risk of poverty as a likely consequence3
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In all three contexts, women are building resilience to climate change. At COP ActionAid is calling for increased finance to help women to cope as climate shocks worsen
Women interviewed revealed that conflict and climate change forces them to walk further for water, increasing their risk of sexual violence. In the DRC, Nigeria, and Somaliland, these pressures drive resource scarcity, migration, and displacement, threatening women's safety and security. This dangerous mix erodes their resilience and forces harmful coping strategies
“Even if you are insulted you still go back the following day without shame,” a woman interviewed in Benue State, Nigeria, told ActionAid. She added: “Women are raped sometimes, abducted or kidnapped due to the conflict situations. When you go searching for water far away from the home, the men will follow the younger women and begin to demand sex. They sometimes rape them.”
Women also noted that armed groups in the DRC exploit the absence of state authorities to commit crimes against women while they are accessing water and wood, including violence, kidnapping, and rape. Women in the Lwado study group highlighted the constant threat of “rape and drownings on their way to find water.” They also mentioned instances of “kabanga” or strangulation by rope occurring to women fetching water. Similar dangers are faced by women in Nigeria, as one research participant in Makurdi explained: “women face the danger of rape, murder, and kidnapping in isolated areas.”
In Somaliland, the report found that an increasing number of girls are dropping out of school entirely as the financial strain of climate change bites hard.
“Children's education is disrupted when their family needs to relocate to safety. Financial difficulty hinders the poor and the IDPs from accessing education.” Another woman added, "Many girls had to drop out of school due to safety concerns" Another factor mentioned was the increasing number of students due to the growing displaced population from neighbouring villages of Ainabo. Another woman in the research group said: “I work in the education sector, and in our school, education is free, but the burden has increased because the majority of those who migrated are now in Ainabo.” Another research participant in Ainabo added: When girls migrate to Ainabo, a place they are unfamiliar with and where they have needs, mothers often go to the mountains to collect firewood to sell. Girls are then left to run the household and care for their siblings while the mother is outside.
Yet, amidst these challenges, powerful stories emerge from Nigeria, Somaliland, and the DRC, where women are transforming degraded lands and spearheading environmental and economic recovery through initiatives like reforestation and rainwater harvesting.
ActionAid UK is calling for a feminist approach to climate finance at COP29, demanding increased funding for Women-Led Organisations (WLOs) and Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) on the frontlines of the climate crisis, particularly in severely-impacted conflict affected countries. The report calls for climate finance to be directed towards grassroots women’s moments.
Zandi Noella, a climate leader and mother of five living in Kabare, the DRC, aged 30, spoke about how climate change is destroying her income. Interviewed separately from the report, Zandi said: “These rains are destroying everything for us. They destroy our fields and cause hunger if we don’t get to eat, we go to sleep hungry, and most people spend the night under the stars to sleep during the day. It’s also difficult to rest during the day due to erosion waste they must take houses and spades to clear them.”
“The trees dry up this leads to a hunger problem the plants are cut up early to make up for the need for food education or healthcare for children maybe it's 1/1000 waiting for the tree to reach maturity most trees are cut down early without waiting for them to mature to satisfy different needs and that is one way to destroy environment they live in two-storey houses, while we live under the straw.
Zandi's leadership in sugar cane reforestation projects in Kabare empowers women and protects their communities from climate-induced disasters. By stabilising the soil and reducing erosion, sugar cane cultivation helps mitigate the impacts of landslides and floods while boosting local women’s incomes.
Zandi added: “I learned how to plant sugar canes and with that, I was able to buy a goat and school supplies for children, they've had a great start to the new school year. I have also planted potatoes and after harvesting we were able to pay for school fees for the kids in secondary school, and with the rest, it's all about self-sufficiency.”