Institute of Development Studies

Amplifying Women and Children’s Voices in Climate Talks

Tamara Plush – 21 April 2009

Scientists are meeting this week for the 30th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Turkey. Their updated findings and reports will include recommendations for decision makers as they debate policies and programmes for global climate adaptation strategies. Meanwhile the voices of poor women and children impacted by climate change are rarely heard – though they can contribute valuable insights into what they need to cope.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, with the greatest impacts being felt by poor and marginalised people living in developing countries. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is exploring ways to amplify the voices of marginalised groups through a variety of means – including participatory video.

In 2008, IDS, ActionAid Nepal (AAN) and Children in a Changing Climate (CCC) participated in a joint action research initiative using participatory video in Nepal. Women and children used filmmaking to research the impacts of climate in their communities and create videos to campaign for what would most help them to adapt.

The women’s main priorities are for additional or alternative livelihood support such as training in sewing or goat rearing. They are desperate for additional ways to generate income as they wait for remittances from the village men who are seasonally migrating to India or the Gulf states. They attribute this growing migration to crop failure caused by increased flooding, drought and landslides. The children made films asking for safe access to school (i.e. bridges or tree-planting campaigns to stop massive landslides).

There is international interest in this use of participatory video as an innovate method of community education and engagement. Itcan help narrow the gap between policymakers and poor people, leading to more equitable responses to climate change adaptation that meet specific needs of women and children. The Oxford Gender and Development Journal published an article on the project linking it to women’s rights; the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction listed it as a best practice; and the social action site WITNESS HUB will be featuring clips from children’s and women’s films and a blog by the researcher on its main site in the next two weeks.

Equally important is how the project helped those participating in the research to better adapt to a changing climate. The year-long project saw impacts from the local to the national level: In one of the children’s films they talked about the need for a bridge to get to school as they were missing exams when they could not cross during flooding. Children from the community had also drowned or become disabled when trying to cross in the past. Because of the children’s video, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the ActionAid Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Through Schools (DRRS) program are funding the construction of a bridge. In other communities, women and children asked for irrigation canals and tree-planting campaigns, which are also being funded. A SE Asia five-year grant proposal to support the women’s specific livelihood requests has been submitted by AAN. Nationally the Nepal government agreed to add child concerns to their adaptation funding priorities after watching the child films and accompanying report.

Throughout the study, participatory video was shown to be an appropriate and viable tool to support marginalised groups in their efforts to adapt to climate change. It helped demystify climate change by linking it to the day-to-day challenges the video makers face in their livelihoods, health, education and food security. When people analyse their own situations, they learn and internalise the impacts and solutions. Mobilisation for adaptation support becomes their right and a cornerstone for advocacy, which they can address through filmmaking. The digital nature of video communications enables marginalised groups to communicate their concerns accessible across distances and participate stronger participation and influence in local, district, national and international policy and planning decisions. As poor women and children continue to endure the impacts of a problem they did not create, every effort should be made to secure their right to climate change adaptation programs and funding. If used appropriately and with integrity, participatory video can be a powerful tool to support these efforts.

To read more about the project and watch the clips from the videos made by the women and children, go to:
• Children report and film
• Short clips from the community films
• Film compilation of women’s voices

Tamara Plush is a freelance consultant on using participatory video for social action. She recently finished her Masters at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in Participation, Power and Social Change. Her dissertation researched how participatory video could support marginalized groups in their efforts to adapt to climate change.

Image: Bhadra Rajbhandari and Rita Bista shoot a scene during the Nepal project participatory video workshop in the Rasuwa District by Tamara Plush

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Related Events

Climate Change and Development seminar 'Can Participatory Video Help Communities to Manage Climate Risks?'

Dates: 6 May 2009