Gender needs and roles in building climate resilience in Hue City, Vietnam

This working paper examines gender roles in building climate resilience in Hue City. Gender roles in building climate resilience are an emerging issue worldwide making it important to understand the drivers of gender-specific vulnerabilities, needs and capacities with respect to climate change. These include health, social, political and economic contexts, which, when combined with other social changes such as urbanisation, are likely to exacerbate climate change impacts.

To improve the resilience of Hue City, the following actions should be taken by policymakers and city planners (p. 50):

• improve livelihoods at the household level to sustain health and improve financial capacity;
• review the master plan for urbanisation for Hue City to develop a long-term vision for climate change resilience;
• improve waterbody networks in Hue City to enhance resilience and conserve the landscape for developing tourism as the main revenue source.

To promote gender inclusion in Hue City, the authors recommend that policymakers (p. 50):

• promote microfinance funds and other mechanisms that allow women to develop their livelihoods so that they can generate more income and raise their position in society;
• create more opportunities for women to participate in capacity-building opportunities;
• create more opportunities for women to participate in decision-making processes, including in policy, community and business contexts;
• educate people about the limitations of traditional gender roles, and the importance of unlocking men’s and women’s potential in different spheres.