Indonesia: rising waters, increasing gender inequalities

Reading time: 7 minutes 

16/11/2022 

Written by: Emma Roquel 

Translated by: Lisa Selmadji 

Since August 2022, Indonesia is affected by severe floodings^[1]Fédération internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, Des millions de personnes en Asie vivant dans des eaux stagnantes risquent de contracter des maladies mortelles, … Continue reading which killed or injured hundreds of people, and caused extensive damage to infrastructures and housing.  As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia is highly vulnerable to the effects and impacts of climate change, and, as a consequence, must face a range of challenges in relation to sustainable development and adaptation measures. Climate change threatens to worsen rising waters and thus, flood coastal agricultural areas. According to the latest estimates, by 2030, the Indonesian archipelago, made up of 17 000 isles and islets, might lose more than 2000 of them because of the rising sea levels^[2]Fédération internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge, Guide climatique sur l’Indonésie, 2006. https://www.climatecentre.org › reports › Indonesie. In face of such threats and ensuing issues, Indonesians are not equal: climate change aggravates existing gender inequalities. To what extent will rising water levels in Indonesia amplify gender inequalities? 

An alarming environmental degradation worsening women vulnerability 

Indonesia suffers from the numerous adverse consequences of climate change, which simultaneously aggravate gender inequalities. In fact, over the last ten years, Indonesia has recorded an increasing number of natural disasters. According to recent governmental statistics, there are on average 2.7 disasters per day in one year. These disasters are mainly floods; according to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) Indonesia experienced more than a hundred serious floods over the last century.  These floods threaten food security, because of the destruction of agricultural lands and industrial areas, but they also endanger the health of the Indonesian population, as well as their housing and access to food and water for the communities. Millions of Indonesians are affected and displaced across the archipelago. Take the example of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Weakened and threatened by rising water levels – “40% of the city is already below sea level”^[3]RENALDI, A. Jakarta sera bientôt sous les eaux, le gouvernement lance un plan de sauvetage, National Geographic, août … Continue reading – President Joko Wikodo’s government decided in 2019 to relocate the capital on the Borneo island, from 2024^[4]CLARK HOWARD, B. Environnement : Jakarta s’enfonce de 30 centimètres par an, National Geographic, avril … Continue reading. Subject to the constant rise of sea levels, together with floods, more or less severe and frequent, the archipelago faces problematic land subsidence.  

According to the last UN Women report, in 2022, women are the first victims to suffer from the consequences of climate change, mainly because of limited access, limited control, and limited property of the resources, as well as low participation in the decision making process and restricted freedom of choice^[5]United Nations Women, Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected, février … Continue reading. Indeed, women are more dependent on natural resources than men, while also assuming unprecedented responsibility in securing food, water and fuel for their family^[6]United Nations Women, Report on State of Gender Equality and Climate Change in South Asia and the Hindu Kush Himalaya, septembre … Continue reading. Agriculture is one of the most important employment sectors for Indonesian women. According to numbers from the World Bank, in 2019, 26% of Indonesian women worked in the agricultural sector^[7]Banque Mondiale, Population active, femmes (% de la population active) – Indonésie, 2021. https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS?locations=ID. Bearing in mind that in 2021, only 39,6% of women of working age were in employment^[8]Banque Mondiale, Population active, femmes (% de la population active) – Indonésie,  2021. https://donnees.banquemondiale.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS?locations=ID. As a consequence, women, as agricultural workers, are completely dependent on climate and weather conditions which have direct consequences on their means of subsistence. This is why climate change, of which the rising sea levels are a consequence, affects and amplifies enduring gender inequalities. It poses a direct threat on women and girls’ means of subsistence, on their health, and on their security, as they are at greater risk from gender-based violence, in particular physical and sexual violence, forced marriages, etc., which are exacerbated in times of conflict or crisis, in particular those induced by the effects of climate change^[9]OMSMAN-ELASHA, B. Les femmes dans le contexte des changements climatiques, Nations Unies, 2022. https://www.un.org/fr/chronicle/article/le-femmes-dans-le-contexte-des-changements-climatiques. 

During periods of heavy precipitation, women must work even harder to ensure their family’s income and resources. It also puts additional pressure on girls who often have to leave school to help their mothers cater for the needs of their family. Moreover, when natural disasters hit, such as floods, women are less likely to survive and more likely to be injured because of entrenched gender inequalities which have created wide disparities in terms of information, mobility, decision-making, and access to resources^[10]Cowater International, Automisation des femmes indonésiennes afin de réduire la pauvreté … Continue reading. Regarding the consequences of climate change, men and women are not equal. Firstly, they do not have similar access to information, in particular information on the risks incurred by climate change, which has obvious consequences on their security and contributes to widen the gender gap. Secondly, in terms of mobility, women are often the last ones to emigrate because of cultural norms and their family responsibilities. Thirdly, because of a patriarchal system in which women’s voices are rarely heard, women only play a marginal role in the decision-making process. And lastly, women have limited access to resources, in particular medical, social and educational resources. All of which inevitably reinforces gender inequalities, which already exist in the country and are aggravated by climate change. 

Similarly, in the aftermath of a natural disaster, “women and girls are less able to access relief and assistance further threatening their means of subsistence, their wellbeing and their recovery, and creating a vicious cycle of vulnerability to future disaster”^[11]Women for Climate-Resilient Societies, State of Gender Equality and Climate Change in ASEAN, 2022. … Continue reading. Finally, climate change aggravates inequalities in terms of access, already limited, to health care and services for women and girls, which can endanger their health. This also increases risks for maternal and child health, in particular because of food insecurities and restricted access to medical care. 

Thus the environmental degradation suffered by the Indonesian archipelago has many consequences on the situation of women and girls in the country, aggravating their vulnerability and amplifying gender inequalities. In response to this situation, the Indonesian government is insufficiently responsive and pragmatic. 

A lack of initiative from the Indonesian government in the face of climate change gendered consequences

Although the Indonesian government confirmed its commitment to and support for the fight against climate change, measures taken in favour of women to compensate for gender inequalities aggravated by this phenomenon remain sparse. 

Certainly some initiatives were taken, such as the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment for 2013-2020^[12]Cowater International, Automisation des femmes indonésiennes afin de réduire la pauvreté … Continue reading and the ASEAN Strategy for 2022 on Gender Equality and Climate Change aimed at guiding action towards gender equal and socially inclusive climate commitments^[13]WIKAN, H. Warming up Indonesia’s climate change policies, Asia and the Pacific policy society, mars 2022. https://www.policyforum.net/warming-up-indonesias-climate-change-policies/. As for UN Women, it promotes the use of existing regional forums to learn and share good practices in terms of gender sensitive climate policies and initiatives^[14]United Women, Explainer: How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected, février … Continue reading. 

At the national level, on the 23rd September 2022, Indonesia published its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which defines its national objectives for the year in terms of sustainable development. The archipelago committed to rehabilitate 2 million hectares of land degraded because of frequent floods related to climate change^[15]UNDP, Climate promise, Indonesia, 2022. https://climatepromise.undp.org/fr/what-we-do/where-we-work/indonesie, in order to reduce, in fine, food insecurities which particularly affect women and girls. Moreover the archipelago has reaffirmed its ambition in terms of climate adaptation to facilitate the environmental transition and reduce the effects of climate change on women. Furthermore, also in September, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection and the Ministry of Finance met to organise and promote the integration of gender equality in the climate budgeting of the Indonesian government^[16]UNDP, Indonesia: gender focused climate financing heart, 2022. https://www.undp.org/indonesia/blog/gender-focused-climate-financing-heart-south-south-workshop. 

However, these measures and programmes centred on the situation of Indonesian women are mostly regional rather than national^[17]Cowater International, Automisation des femmes indonésiennes afin de réduire la pauvreté … Continue reading. To this day, there exist very few concrete plans by the Indonesian government – which prioritises first of all its economic interests – to decrease gender inequalities in the face of flood risings. And this, de facto, might marginalize the role of women in society and in the struggle against climate change. 

Recommendations  

• Call on a collective response which includes men and women in the solution, through citizen participation. 
• Acknowledge the prevalence of patriarchal values which restrict the role and action of women in terms of adaptation to the consequences of climate change. 
• Promote initiative and environmental practices, led by women, to reduce the gendered consequences of climate change. 
• Implement protection and / or social assistance systems for the most vulnerable women and girls in order to mitigate the consequences of climate change on their daily life. 

Conclusion

Thus, rising water levels in Indonesia will undoubtedly aggravate already existing gender inequalities. Indonesian women and girls will be the first victims of climate change disastrous consequences but also of the government’s unsustainable and destructive management of the environment. This is why it is necessary to acknowledge the importance of women’s role and participation in the survival of the archipelago.  In fact, the Indonesian government should quickly get to work in order to find solutions that focus both on gender inequalities reinforced by the disastrous consequences of climate change (such as the rise in sea levels, land subsidence, and natural catastrophes) as well as on the adequate means to reduce these gender inequalities.  

To cite this production: Emma Roquel, “Indonesia: Rising Waters Mean Rising Gender Inequality”, 16/11/2022, Gender Institute in Geopolitics, https://igg-geo.org/?p=9522.

The statements in this article are the sole responsibility of the author.