Gender and Global Threats
2020 has not been a good year for the Asia Pacific region. Achievements in the United Nation’s global Sustainable Development Goals has been poor and COVID-19 has had enormous economic impacts in an area so heavily reliant on human movement for travel and tourism. Ongoing conflicts and mass displacements due to environmental disasters are also resulting in insecurities for millions of people, especially women and girls at risk of sexual and gender-based violence.
It is for these reasons that investing in research about gender-related issues in the region and exploring opportunities for a more equitable future is critical, and the Australian National University’s (ANU) Gender Institute is focused on supporting important work which can inform a brighter future.
Dr Maria Tanyag, Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, has been awarded The ANU Gender Institute a special research funding on ‘Gender and Global Threats’. Maria’s research aims to explore crises and activism in the Asia Pacific, and how ‘cultures of crisis’ within the Asia Pacific region inform ways of understanding and overcoming other forms of crises globally.
“These are similar themes and issues I have already been working on for a few years now and am encouraged by the opportunity to contribute to scholarship that has potential to inform global, national and local solutions,” says Maria.
This research will help advance an innovative research agenda that re-signifies the importance of feminist approaches within the context of global threats, global security agenda and crises.
“Policymakers, researchers and practitioners can no longer afford to map and analyse climate-related risks and impacts on human lives independent of other natural ecosystems, or to treat climate risks to food insecurity and health, for example, in isolation from gender inequalities and climate-related drivers to conflict and displacement,” says Maria.
The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific understands the importance of the region to the future of Australia, and for more than half a century has been the pre-eminent centre for research in Asia and the Pacific . You can make a difference by donating here.
