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Reimagining resilience: Young women leading climate action and disaster response in the Caribbean

October 14, 2025 | Activity

The Caribbean region is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and disasters, including rising sea levels, more frequent and intense natural hazards, and shifts in water availability. These challenges threaten the region’s countries, populations, and sustainable development. However, their effects are not felt equally – certain groups face heightened vulnerability due to factors such as gender, age, and geographic location. Women and girls are among those disproportionately affected, with climate impacts often intensifying existing gender inequalities and posing distinct risks to their livelihoods, health, and safety.

In response to these realities, the Young Women in Leadership (YWiL) Network – convened by ParlAmericas, UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean, and Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) – held a virtual session on October 14, 2025, focused on the intersection of gender equality, climate change, and disaster risk reduction. The YWiL Network brings together young women leaders from past parliamentary youth programs across the Caribbean to share experiences, exchange good practices, and strengthen connections with each other, parliamentarians, and regional experts. It fosters dialogue on key gender equality issues and supports the development of practical solutions that young leaders can champion in their work – and this session was no exception.

Throughout the session, participants explored how climate and disaster impacts uniquely affect women and girls. For example, caregiving responsibilities can hinder evacuation or preparedness efforts. Sherina Supersad, a panellist and alumna of the 2024 YES! Leadership Program, emphasized the need for shelters to accommodate caregiving needs, alongside other inclusive measures such as gender-based violence protocols, accessibility features, and access to hygiene and health supplies. Further highlighted were the challenges faced by women farmers and entrepreneurs, who often lack access to financial resources – a situation worsened by climate change and disasters. Tailored support is essential to help these women adapt and protect their livelihoods. An intersectional assessment of these issues is also critical, recognizing that not all women and girls experience these challenges in the same way.

Participants and panellists were united in their messaging that, in the face of intensifying climate threats and the detrimental impacts on people’s lives, the Caribbean’s future depends not only on infrastructure and technological advancements to address climate impacts – but on proactive, inclusive, and gender-responsive planning, frameworks, and leadership. Young women leaders must be part of these solutions, and are already active agents of change in this regard in the Caribbean.

In remarks offered during the session, Senator the Honourable Brittney Galvez of Belize, Vice-President for Central America of the ParlAmericas Parliamentary Network on Gender Equality, underscored the vital role of women’s and youth organizations in raising awareness of differentiated climate impacts, responding effectively to crises in their own communities and in other countries, and advocating for inclusive decision-making at all levels.

Megan Morgan, an environmental advocate and YWiL participant from Jamaica, spotlighted organizations leading this work, including Girls CARE, Caribbean Feminist, the Caribbean Youth Environment Network, and Breadfruit Collective. She also emphasized the power of individual action in shaping inclusive climate and disaster responses – highlighting that, despite its technical nature, climate action is an area in which all can contribute in their communities and based on their unique perspectives. This message was echoed by Senator Galvez and opening speakers Isiuwa Iyahen, Head of Office a.i. of the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean, and Nana Oye Hesse-Bayne, President of CIWiL. All recognized the leadership of young Caribbean women in building resilience in a more comprehensive manner that focuses on transforming systems that perpetuate inequality.

The session concluded with an interactive exercise where participants applied a gender and youth-inclusive lens to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Key priorities emerged: integrating gender from the outset in planning and policy, investing in responsive solutions, collecting disaggregated data and information on individuals’ lived realities, leveraging social media for public education, and building capacity among youth and women leaders – as well as among the staff of agencies and departments focused on disasters and climate change on gender and youth inclusion.

As climate change continues to reshape the Caribbean’s future, the leadership of young women is not just valuable – it is essential. The YWiL Network session reaffirmed that inclusive, intersectional approaches are key to building resilient communities. By amplifying the voices of young women, equipping them with the tools to lead, and facilitating their meaningful engagement in decision making processes, the region can move toward a future where climate and disaster responses reflect the needs of all its people. The momentum is here – and it is being driven by the next generation of changemakers.

This activity was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.