Virtual report launch: Women environmental human rights defenders in Nepal and the Philippines

Women environmental human rights defenders in Nepal and the Philippines: unpacking the (mal)development-disaster risk relationship through lived experiences

With a geographic focus on Nepal and the Philippines, the report builds on the insights of 58 respondents representing 33 organizations working on topics such as Indigenous rights, gender equality, human rights, environmental rights and disaster risk reduction. Their lived experiences helped to demonstrate how inadequate development planning can magnify the vulnerability of marginalized groups and increase their exposure to hazards, leading to higher disaster risks. The results also suggest that such experiences of vulnerability can trigger social movements and diverse forms of mobilizations, in which women environmental human rights defenders are pivotal to reassert environmental and human rights and denounce maldevelopment practices. Therefore, the report highlights the strategies used by defenders at multiple scales, that draw on their knowledge, skills and activism, have the potential to break the relationship between maldevelopment and disaster.

Jointly implemented by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), SEI, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI) and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), this programme’s aim was to improve disaster risk reduction and climate resilience by sharing best practices in the region and encouraging South-South cooperation in Asia.