The mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan in the North of Pakistan are one of the recognised hot-spots of climate change. The area is very sensitive to potential shifts in the monsoon patterns, and melting glaciers will increase the risk of flooding during the wet season and drought in the dry season (IPCC 2007; Bakshi 2011; ICIMOD 2010). Local communities are adapting in various ways to climate change and variability, and labour migration is one of the most resorted adaptive strategies (ICIMOD 2011).

While migration has always been part of livelihood strategies, yet, what can be defined as an emerging agenda is the study of migration as an adaptation strategy to environmental change and to the impacts of climate change: human migration has only recently been recognised as a crucial factor to be integrated into the climate adaptation policy agenda (IPCC 2007; EACH FOR 2009; Foresight 2011; Gemenne 2011; and Scheffran et al. 2011).

Additionally, climate change impacts and adaptation have been widely recognised as being not gender-neutral. Women are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, as they tend to be poorer, less educated, and with limited direct access to ownership of natural resources and to economic, cultural and social rights (Rodenberg 2009).

Migration-as-adaptation is also a highly gendered phenomenon; gendered power relations, cultural norms and values, together with the gendered division of labour, deeply affect and differentiate the adaptive capacity of women and men. In Pakistan, virtually only men are allowed to move for employment while, women are left to take care of the household and to deal with in situ adaptation. They carry out the lion’s share of agriculture and play a pivotal role in the management of natural resources. 

The aim of the Gender and Environmental Migration (GEM) study, jointly conducted by the University of Hamburg and Sustainable Development Policy Institute, is to explore the gendered dimensions of migration-as-adaptation, and proposing a gender sensitive framework of analysis.

During a field trip conducted in June 2012, we collected gender-disaggregated data on local perceptions of climate change and variability in mountainous communities of Gilgit-Baltistan (Ghizer and Hunza-Nagar Districts). Using both quantitative household surveys, and qualitative in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions, the study covered 200 households in six villages (Hundur and Darkut in the Yasin Valley of Ghizer District; Hussainabad, Altit, Gulmit, and Shiskat in the Hunza-Nagar District). The study will present some of the key results of the project, exploring the gender dimension of environmentally induced migration, and propose a framework to analyse it. It will be further assessed whether migration can be a positive adaptation strategy to environmental pressure, and whether it could enhance women’s empowerment and community resilience.

REFERENCES

Bakshi, G. and Trivedi, S. 2011, The Indus Equation, Strategic Foresight Group, Mumbai, India.

EACH-FOR 2009, ‘Environmental change and forced migration scenarios’, Synthesis Report, retrieved on August 11, 2012 http://www.each-for.eu/index.php?module=main

Foresight Report 2011, ‘Migration and Global Environmental Change: Future Challenges and Opportunities’, retrieved on July 28, 2012: http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/migration

Gemenne,  F., Bruecker, P., Glasser, J. (eds.)2011, The State of Environmental Migration 2010, vol. 07/11, The Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, Geneva-Paris.

ICIMOD 2010, ‘Rural Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Himalayas’, The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development,, Kathmandu, retrieved on July 28, 2012: http://books.icimod.org/uploads/tmp/icimod-rural_livelihoods_and_adaptation_to_climate_change_in_the_himalayas.pdf

ICIMOD 2011, “Labour Migration as a Response Strategy to Water Hazards in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas”, The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, retrieved on August 9, 2012: http://books.icimod.org/uploads/tmp/icimod-labour_migration_as_a_response_strategy_to_water_hazards_in_the_hindu_kush-himalayas.pdf

IPCC 2007, ‘Summary for Policymakers. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’, Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Rodenberg, B. 2009, Climate change adaptation from a gender perspective : a cross-cutting analysis of development-policy instruments, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, Bonn, Germany.

Scheffran, J; Marmer, E., and Sow, P. 2011, ‘Migration as a contribution to resilience and innovation in climate adaptation: Social networks and co-development in Northwest Africa’, Applied Geography, vol. 33, Elsevier, Munich, pp. 119-127.