GENDER DIMENSIONS OF OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE IN SIDS AND COASTAL LDCS

The report examines how gender norms and power dynamics influence vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the ocean economy of SIDS and coastal LDCs. It highlights the undervalued roles of women in small-scale fisheries and tourism and analyzes how climate change, market shifts, and COVID-19 disproportionately affect women due to socio-economic structures. The document advocates for the systematic collection of sex-disaggregated data, the implementation of gender-transformative policies, and the alignment of international finance, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate risk insurance, with gender equality goals to enhance overall community resilience.

• Women are fundamental to small-scale fisheries (SSFs), representing approximately 14% of the harvest workforce and nearly half of the total SSF workforce when post-harvest sectors are included. They are responsible for up to 90% of processing and marketing jobs in many developing countries.
• In the tourism sector of SIDS, women's participation is high, with women representing 54% of the global tourism workforce and over 50% in 21 SIDS. Despite this, women often remain in low-paid, informal roles and face barriers to senior managerial positions due to gender-role stereotyping and domestic responsibilities.
• Vulnerability to ocean risks is not inherent to gender but is driven by socio-economic structures and power relations. Women are often disproportionately impacted by disasters because their needs and priorities are excluded from planning and decision-making.
• Climate change impacts are gender-differentiated; for example, in Bangladesh, women face higher morbidity during cyclones because socio-religious norms may restrict their movement to public spaces or evacuation shelters. In the Pacific and Caribbean, women are more likely to experience gender-based violence following disasters.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated gender inequalities in SIDS and coastal LDCs. Women in the service industry and informal tourism sectors were the first to be laid off, and the crisis increased the burden of unpaid care work and the risk of domestic violence.
• Market expansion and trade can displace women from traditional ocean-based livelihoods. In East Africa, increased profitability of octopus for export led men to displace women in the fishery. Similarly, in Palau, a harvest rush for sea cucumbers led to men displacing women gleaners.
• Adaptive capacity is strengthened through gender-transformative approaches that engage both men and women to dismantle harmful norms. Examples include the use of theatrical skits in Zambia to improve attitudes toward gender equality in fisheries.
• Official Development Assistance (ODA) for fisheries often lacks a strong focus on gender equality. Between 2010 and 2019, only USD 2 million was allocated to projects where gender equality was the principal objective (GE2), while the majority of funding was gender-accommodative rather than transformative.
• Climate risk insurance, such as the COAST facility in the Caribbean, can support resilience, but often overlooks women in the informal sector. Because beneficiaries are often predefined by governments as licensed fishermen, women processors and vendors risk being excluded.

APA

Wabnitz, C. C., Blasiak, R., Harper, S., Jouffray, J.-B., Tokunaga, K., & Norström, A. V. (2021). GENDER DIMENSIONS OF OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE IN SIDS AND COASTAL LDCS. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/orraa-gender-and-ocean-risk.pdf

Chicago

Wabnitz, Colette C.C., Robert Blasiak, Sarah Harper, Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, Kanae Tokunaga, and Albert V. Norström. GENDER DIMENSIONS OF OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE IN SIDS AND COASTAL LDCS. Global Resilience Partnership, 2021. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/orraa-gender-and-ocean-risk.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wabnitz |first1=Colette C.C. |last2=Blasiak |first2=Robert |last3=Harper |first3=Sarah |last4=Jouffray |first4=Jean-Baptiste |last5=Tokunaga |first5=Kanae |last6=Norström |first6=Albert V. |title=GENDER DIMENSIONS OF OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE IN SIDS AND COASTAL LDCS |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/orraa-gender-and-ocean-risk.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wabnitz2021gender, author = {Wabnitz, Colette C.C. and Blasiak, Robert and Harper, Sarah and Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste and Tokunaga, Kanae and Norström, Albert V.}, title = {{GENDER DIMENSIONS OF OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE IN SIDS AND COASTAL LDCS}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/orraa-gender-and-ocean-risk.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }