"Cyclone Ditwah has disrupted essential health services and increased risks of gender-based violence. ... we are scaling up life-saving services and restoring facilities to ensure no one is left behind."
Monsoon rains, a typhoon, and multiple cyclones devastated communities across Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam this November.
According to Al Jazeera, as of December 9, more than 1,800 people have died as a result of destructive floodwaters and landslides, with many more still missing. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, and millions have been impacted in one of the worst flooding events the region has seen in decades.
At The Conversation, Steve Turton, a CQUniversity Australia adjunct professor of environmental geography, wrote about the rare formation of Cyclone Senyar so close to the equator and its "unusual interaction" with Typhoon Koto. Turton said we don't yet know if the events had been fueled by climate change, but that the phenomenon "is projected to trigger fewer cyclones overall, but with higher intensity."
In its coverage of the deadly and overlapping disasters, the United Nations noted, "Warmer ocean waters are increasing the potential for extreme rainfall, while rapid urban growth, deforestation, and wetland loss are magnifying flood impacts."
The impacts can be further magnified along gender lines. For example, in Malaysia, a 21-year-old man was arrested on November 29 for allegedly molesting a 16-year-old girl at a flood evacuation center, according to local reports.
Community advocates and humanitarian groups have continually raised concerns about increased risks of gender-based violence among populations displaced due to extreme weather. In September, Aarti Lila Ram, a Chevening Scholar and expert in gender-responsive climate resilience, wrote as a contributor at the World Economic Forum about a potential solution: meaningful investment in women-led disaster committees.
Ram cited Communities United for Disaster Risk Management — or COMUNGERD — in particular. As a part of the grassroots initiative in Guaranda, Colombia, women map area flood risks, locate evacuation routes, and design early-warning systems. As Ram wrote, women's "involvement has ensured that shelters, water points and evacuation plans reflect the needs of entire families."
When Indonesian Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Arifah Fauzi visited an evacuation center in Padang, West Sumatra, she said, "I came with my team to meet survivors, especially women and children who face the highest risks during emergencies," according to Antara News. During her visit, the minister also helped to distribute milk to children.
Other government aid in Indonesian shelters has reportedly included hygiene kits, maternal and infant supplies, medicine, and psychosocial support.
In Sri Lanka, the Parliament reported that the All-China Women’s Federation donated 1,000,000 yuan (around $140,000 U.S.) worth of similar products, including menstrual pads and diapers, to cyclone survivors. The Australian government and the U.N. Population Fund have also teamed up to provide assistance to the Cyclone Ditwah-impacted island nation.
Much of the partnership's sexual and reproductive health care support is coming through the Australian-backed Regional Prepositioning Initiative, according to the Colombo Gazette. In operation now for a decade across the Asia-Pacific region, the proactive initiative to provide emergency reproductive health kits, dignity kits, and privacy tents to disaster-prone areas in advance of catastrophe has been found to improve response times, build trust, and influence governments to prioritize sexual and reproductive care as a part of recovery efforts.
“Cyclone Ditwah has disrupted essential health services and increased risks of gender-based violence," Phuntsho Wangyel, UNFPA Officer in Charge for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said, per the Gazette. "With Australia’s support, we are scaling up life-saving services and restoring facilities to ensure no one is left behind.”
The U.N. Development Programme has called for "scaled-up early recovery support to help communities get back on their feet," particularly in Sri Lanka, where Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on November 28. There, the UNDP has said, around 1.2 million women and 522,000 children have been exposed to the storm's effects.
But while international groups work to fund large-scale efforts, smaller-scale, locally designed solutions may continue to be essential too. In Vietnam, for example, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Women's Union reportedly organized the "zero-dong market" while a similar group organized a "free countryside market," enabling flood-affected shoppers to select the foods and other items they needed for free.
Olubusayo Ruth Akinola — Head of the Social Welfare, Drug Control, and Crime Prevention Division of the Union — exchanged emails with CG following the release of a new report from the African Union.
"We did not directly address this through these separate papers," study lead author David Luglio told CG, "but it is also important to understand if and how these wildfire and heat effects on autism development combine, especially given that they will likely co-occur in the future."
ProPublica said in late February that the agency shared it "has stopped distributing" gear containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances following the outlet's early-February reporting that the agency knew for years its pants contained potentially harmful "forever chemicals."
The U.S. halted oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba in January. Later, the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs on other countries that sent oil to the island nation. There have been reports of women cooking with charcoal amid blackouts — and of a surge in solar energy interest.
