Zaher Hashem
Climate change affects everyone in general, but not equally. While extreme weather events, water scarcity, rising temperatures, food insecurity, and environmental degradation impact all populations, women and girls suffer disproportionately from these consequences.
This imbalance is not limited to biological factors alone; rather, it is deeply rooted in social, economic, and political inequalities related to access to resources, healthcare, decision-making, and safety measures.
Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor and depend more heavily on natural resources for water, food, and fuel. When droughts or climate variability disrupt these resources, women must spend more time and effort securing them, increasing physical exhaustion and reducing the time available for other activities such as education or accessing healthcare.
During severe climate disasters such as hurricanes and floods, women and children are 14 times more likely to die than men, largely due to limited mobility, restricted access to information and resources, and lack of decision-making power.
For example, of the more than 230,000 people who died in the 2004 tsunami, women accounted for 70% of the victims. Estimates also indicate that four out of every five people displaced by climate change impacts are women and girls, increasing their exposure to physical and mental health challenges.
Climate Change and Women’s Health – A Global Perspective
Women are increasingly exposed to extreme heat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where they often work in agriculture, informal labor, and domestic work.
Prolonged heat exposure increases the risk of dehydration, heat stress, kidney disease, cardiovascular strain, and pregnancy complications.
Pregnant women are especially vulnerable. Studies have linked heat waves to higher rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth, as well as gestational hypertension and diabetes. According to the World Health Organization, each 1°C increase in minimum daily temperature above 23.9°C raises the risk of infant mortality by up to 22.4%.
In many regions, women spend long hours collecting water, firewood, and food—tasks that become more difficult with worsening drought, deforestation, and desertification. Walking long distances under extreme heat increases fatigue, musculoskeletal injuries, and exposure to violence, while reducing time for rest and healthcare.
From this global gender-integrated climate-health perspective, the recent COP30 climate conference in Brazil adopted the Belém Gender Action Plan, which includes key elements related to health, violence against women and girls, protection mechanisms for environmental defenders, care work, decent work and quality jobs, and a just social transition.
It also recognizes the intersecting factors shaping the realities of women with disabilities, Indigenous women, women in rural and remote communities, and women and girls of African descent.
The Belém Gender Action Plan provides a broad framework placing women and girls at the center of climate policies. It acknowledges the unequal impact of climate change on women’s health and calls for integrating women’s health and social needs into climate policies, including health and safety, climate action, leadership equality, empowerment and participation in decision-making, and increased gender-responsive financing and training.
Disproportionate Exposure and Vulnerability
Women and girls often face greater exposure to climate change impacts due to social roles and existing inequalities.
Syria is among the Middle East countries most vulnerable to climate change, having experienced over the past two decades rising temperatures, declining rainfall, recurrent droughts, and water scarcity. These environmental pressures intersect with more than a decade of armed conflict, economic collapse, and mass displacement, exacerbating an already complex humanitarian and health crisis.
Prolonged droughts between 2006 and 2010 contributed to the collapse of the agricultural sector and rural-to-urban migration. Today, climate change continues to undermine food production, water availability, and public health systems, with 12.9 million people—nearly half the population—suffering from food insecurity.
Syrian women bear a disproportionate share of these impacts. The United Nations Population Fund reports that 7.3 million women and girls require life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare due to harsh conditions, drought, economic collapse, and displacement. This is evident in maternal healthcare, where maternal mortality rates during pregnancy and childbirth are rising and are higher in Syria than in neighboring countries.
UNHCR data indicate that more than 7.4 million people are internally displaced in Syria, with women comprising nearly half—about 3.58 million displaced women inside the country alone.
Nutrition, Water, and Infectious Diseases
Climate change exacerbates food insecurity and disrupts food systems through droughts, floods, soil degradation, and crop failure, leading to higher rates of anemia, micronutrient deficiencies, and malnutrition among women, particularly during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Although highly specific gender-disaggregated climate data for Syria are limited, available evidence clearly shows the food crisis disproportionately affecting women, especially through anemia and nutrient deficiencies among pregnant and lactating women.
According to the Syrian Relief and Development Organization (SRD), one in three pregnant women suffers from anemia due to malnutrition. Economic deterioration and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have further contributed to the dramatic rise in food insecurity and malnutrition.
IPV-Syria has also reported increased malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women, reaching 20.5% in Deir ez-Zor province.
Malnutrition weakens the immune system, increases susceptibility to disease, and raises the risk of childbirth complications. In climate-affected areas, women’s nutritional needs are often neglected in emergency responses, worsening health disparities.
Changes in climate patterns also increase the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, which have particularly severe consequences for pregnant women and infants, increasing the risks of complications, maternal illness, and neonatal health problems.
Women—especially those caring for sick family members—are more likely to be exposed to infection, while having less access to preventive measures and treatment.
The World Health Organization reports outbreaks of infectious diseases such as cholera in several Syrian governorates, noting that poor nutritional status and inadequate public health conditions weaken immunity and make populations, especially women and children, more vulnerable.
Between August and December 2024, Syria recorded 1,444 suspected cholera cases and seven related deaths, with the highest infection rates in Latakia, Al-Hasakah, Aleppo, and displacement sites such as Al-Hol camp. This outbreak is linked to ongoing drought, population movement, and repeated disruptions to water and sanitation systems.
Disruptions to Sexual and Reproductive Health
Health systems and services are often disrupted during climate emergencies, including reproductive health services such as contraception, antenatal care, safe delivery facilities, and menstrual hygiene support.
This disruption increases the risk of unsafe pregnancies, maternal deaths, and the inability to manage menstruation with dignity. Climate-related heat also increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, and high-risk pregnancies, associated with elevated temperatures before and during pregnancy.
Research indicates that each 1°C increase in temperature during the week preceding delivery is associated with a 6% increase in the risk of stillbirth, after adjusting for other environmental factors.
Heat stress and extreme temperatures also increase physiological strain on mothers, potentially leading to complications such as preeclampsia and dehydration.
Water shortages, flooding, and displacement undermine menstrual hygiene management. Lack of clean water, sanitation facilities, and menstrual products leads to infections, anxiety, and discomfort. Menstrual health is rarely prioritized in climate adaptation and disaster-response planning, despite its direct connection to women’s mobility and participation in daily life.
Due to severe damage to vital infrastructure in Syria—including healthcare facilities—and chronic shortages of medicines, medical equipment, and healthcare workers, nearly half of the country’s health facilities are partially or fully non-functional. Around 16 million people require healthcare, including approximately 257,000 pregnant women.
About one-third of infants and young children in northern Syria face malnutrition risks. Miscarriage rates among women in northern Syria approach 32%, according to an assessment by Médecins du Monde Turkey—more than double the global average.
Mental Health Impacts
Climate stress disproportionately affects women’s mental health in multiple ways. Women are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and psychological distress after extreme weather events, with strong influence from social factors such as limited support and economic vulnerability.
The psychological burden of caring for family members and coping with the loss of homes, livelihoods, and community stability contributes to chronic stress and mental health challenges. Women report higher levels of climate-related anxiety, fear, and grief, especially when environmental degradation threatens food security, family livelihoods, and children’s futures, in addition to the constant pressure of managing households under unstable environmental conditions.
Economic pressures, hunger, and social violations—including gender-based violence—can further worsen women’s mental health, with cases such as suicide attempts among girls and women reported in some areas.
This burden is intensified by women’s social roles as primary caregivers. When crops fail, water sources dry up, or disasters strike, women are often responsible for absorbing the emotional and practical shocks while receiving limited psychosocial support.
Shelters and temporary housing frequently lack privacy, safety, and adequate sanitation, increasing stress and fear. For many women, the psychological effects of climate disasters persist long after physical reconstruction efforts end.
The Cycle of Poverty and Inequality
Climate change is expected to push tens of millions of women and girls into poverty by 2050, increasing food insecurity and limiting access to healthcare and education, thereby worsening health outcomes.
Despite these known risks, most national climate plans fail to adequately integrate women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, leading to neglect of essential health needs.
Climate change does not operate in isolation but intersects with existing patterns of social and economic discrimination, making women and girls more vulnerable to its long-term consequences.
Ignoring a gender perspective in climate planning deprives societies of the opportunity to benefit from women’s roles as key agents in adaptation and resilience-building. Women—especially in rural areas—possess vital local knowledge of water and food management and environmental adaptation. Continued exclusion from decision-making deprives climate policies of more inclusive and equitable solutions and perpetuates health and social gaps.
Therefore, integrating women’s rights—especially sexual and reproductive health—into climate strategies is not merely a matter of fairness, but a fundamental requirement for achieving sustainable development and better public health. Addressing climate change without tackling gender inequality means reproducing the same crises in more severe forms in the future.
