This International Women’s Day we are standing with women who are affected by disasters around the world. As the number of environmental disasters and conflicts tragically increases exponentially year on year, we know that it is the world’s poorest that are the most affected. But if we zoom in further to these situations of conflict, climate change, economic deprivation, and poverty we can see that women are impacted the most, in fact they are 14 times more likely to die when a disaster strikes than a man according to the British Medical Journal.

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Factors such as gender-roles, gender inequalities and societal norms can be exacerbated when an environmental or social disaster occurs. Family units, priorities and societies' functionality can all shift and change within a matter of minutes. The absence of a husband, or primary earner, immense medical need, trauma, and the desire for safety to meet basic needs is an overwhelmingly terrifying place to be, yet millions of women are sadly in this position.

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This was Natasha’s reality. At 25, she was forced to flee from her home when the ongoing conflict in the country reached her village, Nayouri in Burkina Faso. She lost her husband in the attack and now lives alone with her five-year-old child in Fada, the capital of the Eastern region. Natasha was six-months pregnant with her second child and found herself needing medical help. She said:  

“I had stomach aches that I tried to treat for five days with tree roots that I picked up at the edge of the city dam. But the pain persisted and I couldn't eat. At the maternity ward for my second prenatal visit, I explained the situation to the midwife who gave me Mebendazole tablets. When I got home, I felt better and started to have an appetite and eat properly again.”

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“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the midwife who offered a sympathetic ear to listen to my worries, and also for the care that was provided to me. As an internally displaced person, I felt very vulnerable, but thanks to the adequate help I received, I felt quite reassured.”

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“I want to thank from the bottom of my heart everyone involved in my care at this difficult time in my life. Their dedication and compassion allow people like me to overcome this ordeal and regain some semblance of stability. I am grateful to know that there are dedicated people every day who fight to help and support displaced people like me.”