In this report, created by Regenerate Africa in collaboration with Population Institute and Panorama Global, a review of climate and health-related policies across eight sub-Saharan African countries—Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia—shows that gender equality and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) are increasingly acknowledged in national climate commitments, yet their integration into climate policy and financing remains limited.
Most countries recognize that climate change deepens gender inequalities and disrupts access to essential health and SRH services, but few have translated this awareness into concrete, costed, or monitored interventions. Policy coherence among climate, health, and gender frameworks is still weak. Gender is often treated as a cross-cutting issue, while SRH is rarely framed as a key component of climate resilience or adaptation. Financing for SRH within climate-related investments is minimal. National budgets and climate finance proposals seldom include explicit SRH actions, and cross-sector collaboration among environment, health, and gender institutions is inadequate. Consequently, most gender and SRH-responsive climate initiatives depend on external donor support rather than sustainable domestic financing. Nonetheless, African countries have emerging opportunities for multi-sectoral coordination of strategic, sustainable efforts for integrated interventions.
The ongoing revision of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), health national adaptation plans, and gender action plans presents a window for mainstreaming SRH into climate finance. Achieving inclusive, equitable, and resilient climate responses requires deliberate alignment of policy frameworks, joint budgeting, and stronger institutional coordination to uphold the health, rights, and agency of all people in a changing climate.