Since the third wave of democratisation swept through the continent in the 1990s, the majority of African states have replaced military dictatorships and one-party-dominant systems with more democratic forms of governance. Today, 61 percent of sub-Saharan countries are “free” or “partly free” according to Freedom House’s 2018 survey – although this is down from a high of 71 percent in 2008.
Women are often disproportionally affected by climate change impacts which aggravate existing gender inequalities and as a result of persisting gender norms and discriminations. Women and men also contribute to climate change responses in different ways.