By Usman Khan

South Asia’s vast human potential and geostrategic location has made it increasingly profitable for international interest. Nevertheless, deep-rooted mistrust and bilateral tensions between South Asian countries have kept the region on the back burner. Given the gender issues, and evidence that lays out the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and young girls, the future of millions of South Asian women appears miserable under the fermenting crisis.

Therefore, the regional south Asian countries must incline efforts to establish an effective gender policy framework with gender considerations integral to Asian society. Decision-makers at the state, national, and regional levels must eliminate structural and societal fences that constrain women’s role as energetic stakeholders with equal privileges and representation in the decision-making sphere of South Asia.

Despite the manifold cultures, religions, and values in South Asia, its societal norms are still quite regressive and male-dominant. In most South Asian countries, women lack access to education and basic healthcare and are more likely to experience poverty as compared to their male counterparts. Living under strict gender restraints and limits, women do not have sufficient incomes, skillsets, and forums to voice for their needs and fight for their rights.

Unluckily, weather change and related menaces have further excavated these existing gender disparities making women less robust and debilitated in the face of prevalent and future challenges. South Asian women need to proactively employ their own traditional natural knowledge and abilities to familiarize with the constant changes in their surroundings, lives, and livelihoods.

In South Asia’s rural areas, women are the main caretakers of the households. Their wide responsibilities range from collecting water from distant wells and rivers to tending to the service of other family members. In many Asian states, women spend hours each day making many trips on foot, often unsafe to get water for their household needs. In other cases, women and young girls compromise their education and put their mental and physical happiness at risk to achieve their household duties and even face sexual harassment.

In addition to needing water for cleaning, cooking, and drinking, women also require access to clean water for their cleanliness and sanitation. In Bangladesh’s coastal areas, fast salt water has made groundwater and water from ponds and wells extremely insecure for drinking. Pregnant women in these coastal areas reportedly suffer from different diseases due to saline water consumption.

Countryside, women also heavily help the local farming, fishing, and cottage industries which are highly susceptible to water scarcity and climate change. Disapproving weather forms mean that women in these sectors are put off commission, and men migrate to urban centers to follow alternative employment opportunities. With little financial support, women left behind find themselves even more overloaded by household duties.

Moreover, women also form the majority of those expatriate or dislocated due to climate hazards. Following the floods in Pakistan in 2010 and 2022 over 70 percent of those displaced were women and children. These defenseless women and children in immigrant camps and rough settlements become the frequent targets of gender-based violence and human trafficking.

Yet, women remain undeterred and continue to fight on the frontlines to contribute the Asian Society. Caught up in the day-to-day efforts to live and facilitate their families. Although the conversation around climate change has gained momentum in South Asia in recent years, women remain largely absent from the climate debate. This is due to the bureaucratic mismanagement approaches, which have traditionally marred policymaking in South Asia.

Power and decision-making reside in the hands of a few, mainly male policymakers who remain to govern the decades-old system, in favor of the upper classes of society with deficient provisions for the general population. Democratic institutions remain weak, and there is an evident lack of inclusivity at all levels with the little role given to women and other relegated groups in policy matters.

Religion also sways considerably in South Asia’s culture and politics. The conservative nature of most dominant regional religions, except Islam often driven by patriarchal beliefs with a subordinate status for women, further gives way to high gender inequalities. Consequently, the South region has failed to address the issues of women. However, women should be given their due rights to progress in South Asia.

Governments, development agencies, and regional institutions must employ approaches to promote gender equality for women wellbeing. Financial provisions for women, greater educational opportunities, increased hiring of female opportunities at all forums including enhanced scope for women researchers and academics, will definitely contribute to fair gender policies, transformations  and reforms.

There is also a need to focus on providing training and employment opportunities to women. With higher poverty rates and poor infrastructural access, women are more vulnerable in South Asian society. Bangladesh launched a joint project by BRAC and UN Women in 2012 to facilitate Bangladeshi women affected by climate change by providing livelihood skills and disaster management training.

Such targeted efforts towards women have proven to be effective in ascertaining community-wide resilience. Also, women living in the coastal and remote mountainous areas have their lives built around nature; they possess critical know-how and unique adaptation practices, which can be extremely resourceful for policymakers during the consultative stages.

Furthermore, women decision-makers and stakeholders can play a pivotal part in enhancing climate and water diplomacy efforts. Major rivers that sustain South Asia are trans-boundary in nature, including the Indus River and the Brahmaputra River. Bilateral tensions often adversely impact the water-sharing arrangements between riparian countries India and Pakistan over the Indus River and can further fuel conflict where sharing arrangements don’t exist India and China over the Brahmaputra River.

South Asian countries needs to pay greater attention women’s representation which can lead to more comprehensive, cooperative, and credible diplomacy outcomes. Women’s role in South Asia society and their invaluable contributions need to be appreciated. South Asia’s intensifying climate situation signals increased recognition of women as agents of change who must be guaranteed a position at the policymaking level. Elevating and empowering women through gender-balanced climate policies will help build a more resilient, peaceful, and sustainable South Asian future.