Summit Senior Consultant Dr. Senau Asamoah presented a paper titled "Gendered Impact of Natural Disasters on Life Expectancy in Africa" at the African Studies Association's 54th-Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The paper examines the role of gender-based vulnerability and the impact of natural disasters on female life expectancy in a sample of 52 African countries from 1985 to 2009.
The study finds that, on average, disaster intensity has no immediate effect on female life expectancy. However, disaster impacts have significantly negative consequences on female life expectancy in the long run for countries where lower social and economic rights are afforded to women. The full text of this report is found here.