Women have long been recognized as caregivers, not only within families but across entire communities. This reality places them on the frontline as climate shocks threaten livelihoods and resilience.
Through networks rooted in caregiving, mutual aid, and local knowledge, women play a critical yet often overlooked role in strengthening social cohesion, protecting natural resources, and responding to environmental crises.
A recent policy brief, “Women as Actors of Change: Climate, Peace and Security in Latin America and the Caribbean” by Nohelia Palou Zúniga and Ignacio Madurga-Lopez, published by the Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT and CGIAR Climate Security (2025), highlights this vital role.
The report shows how women in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are uniquely positioned to address the twin crises of climate change and conflict.
The region is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable, facing rising temperatures, extreme weather, and worsening environmental degradation. These threats jeopardize livelihoods, food security, and societal stability, and are compounded by some of the highest levels of gender-based violence, femicide, and inequality globally.
Yet, in the face of these challenges, women across LAC have pioneered transformative responses through informal community structures. Their initiatives, from early warning systems and savings groups to seed exchange networks and collective childcare, provide resilience where formal systems are weak, absent, or inaccessible due to insecurity or discrimination.
One striking example comes from La Masica, Honduras. During Hurricane Mitch, Garifuna women coordinated a locally led early warning system that ensured no lives were lost. They organized timely evacuations, spread risk information through informal channels, and led post-disaster support.
In the aftermath, women’s grassroots groups not only took part in rescue efforts but also spearheaded long-term recovery, establishing seed banks, advocating for safe housing, and engaging in political processes to secure resources for their communities.
A similar case unfolded in Bolivia’s Cochabamba Valley, where women’s collectives organized to monitor water quantity and quality in drought-prone municipalities. Formed in response to water privatization, these networks helped establish communal agreements that secured both domestic and agricultural use, safeguarding food and water security while preventing conflict.
These examples reveal the powerful, though often invisible, role women play in advancing climate action and building resilience in vulnerable communities. Through their rooted networks, women are redefining what resilience looks like in places where institutions are weak and risks are magnified by inequality, violence, and environmental stress.
Their leadership proves that climate and peacebuilding strategies should not cast women merely as vulnerable groups needing protection, but as active agents of change.
Empowering women to lead at every level, from local neighborhoods to national platforms, requires more than acknowledgment. It demands intentional action: meaningful participation in governance, tailored financial support, capacity building, and mechanisms that respect and scale up local knowledge.
