brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022-ab02a266d70763c3.pdf

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) examines the role of women environmental defenders in advancing transformative disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Nepal. It argues that while marginalized groups—including women, Indigenous peoples, and Dalits—are disproportionately vulnerable to disasters due to structural inequalities, they also possess critical traditional knowledge and strategies to mitigate risks. The document highlights how these defenders move beyond traditional DRR to address the root causes of vulnerability through legal action, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, and provides recommendations for decision-makers to better support these efforts.

• Women environmental defenders are essential but frequently ignored participants in transformative disaster risk reduction (DRR), using their mobilizations against harmful environmental practices to both prevent hazards and drive structural change toward social and environmental justice.
• In Nepal, structural inequalities—including limited access to education, formal employment, secure land tenure, and decision-making representation—increase the vulnerability of women, Indigenous peoples, Dalits, and rural communities to disasters.
• Marginalized groups contribute significantly to community resilience through specific social roles and empirical knowledge: women as primary caregivers in disaster aftermaths, Dalits as essential workers in the service sector, and Indigenous peoples through sustainable resource use and adaptation practices.
• Organizations are working to increase the visibility of marginalized contributions to DRR and advocate for inclusive policies. For example, the Women-Friendly Disaster Management (WFDM) group, representing Dalit, Indigenous, Muslim, disabled women and the LGBTQ+ community, developed the Kathmandu Declaration to make post-disaster needs assessments more gender sensitive.
• Transformative DRR is enabled by the collaboration between the state, civil society, and DRR practitioners, shifting Nepal from a reactive to a proactive approach. Organizations like the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) and the Nepal Indigenous Women’s Federation (NIWF) empower marginalized women by providing education on constitutional rights.
• Legal frameworks are used by environmental defenders to mitigate disaster risks and hold duty-bearers accountable. ProPublic has used litigation to halt infrastructure projects that lacked transparency in environmental impact assessments, while the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance (THRD) has helped Indigenous peoples access justice in environmental conflicts.
• There is a significant gap in resources and visibility between institutionalized organizations and grassroots women defenders. While groups like ProPublic (a branch of Friends of the Earth) and WFDM have international networks and credibility to engage policymakers, grassroots defenders often remain invisible and lack the financial and human resources to be heard.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022-ab02a266d70763c3.pdf. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022-ab02a266d70763c3.pdf. n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022-ab02a266d70763c3.pdf |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendbriefwednepal09092022ab02a266d70763c3pdf, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022-ab02a266d70763c3.pdf}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/brief-wed-nepal-09.09.2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }