In 1980, I traveled to a remote region of Namibia where isolated tribes were dealing with a seven-year drought. I met women who were keeping their families alive—despite hellish conditions—through resourcefulness, determination and incredible effort.
I've witnessed firsthand that the burden of climate change falls especially hard on women and girls. During droughts women spend hours each day searching for water and fuel; they nurse the sick as diseases spread. When climate disasters hit, men often migrate ahead, leaving women to follow along with the children, the elderly and the infirm. They simply carry a bigger load.
Nevertheless, women are great investors in the future, showing fortitude in the face of nearly every tragedy I've seen, and always giving back: According to the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, women reinvest 90% of their income in family and the community, whereas men reinvest only 30%-40%. Women are also great resources on how to survive and even mitigate global warming, but their stories are sadly underreported.
To change that, I founded Ripple Effect Images, a nonprofit collective of award-winning photographers, writers and filmmakers dedicated to covering aid programs that empower women and girls in the developing world—particularly as they deal with the added stress of climate change. Since 2010 we've created 22 films and a photo archive of more than 15,000 images, while helping our beneficiaries raise more than a million dollars for their work.
—Annie Griffiths
Executive Director, Ripple Effect Images