Youth, climate and sexual health in Vanuatu

Young people in Vanuatu are navigating the effects of climate change in their daily lives. This includes the impact of climate on their sexual and reproductive health.

Our project puts young people’s voices and leadership at the centre of making these health impacts visible. 

Putting climate and sexual health on the agenda 

Vanuatu ranks among the countries most affected by climate change. But for young people, this mean more than extreme weather. Climate events can make it hard to access sexual and reproductive health services when they're most needed. 

Many of these health services are already not designed with young people's needs in mind. Climate events make these challenges worse. Climate disruptions damage health infrastructure and cut off remote communities and medical supplies.

Despite this, the links between climate disruption and sexual health access are often left out of policy discussions.  

Our youth-led approach  

Our project is led by young ni-Vanuatu (Indigenous) researchers. The research explores:

• how climate change affects young people's access to health services
• what young climate and health activists think about these issues
• how to make sexual and reproductive health services more responsive to young people's needs, especially during climate disruption
• how different generations in families understand and talk about these challenges
• what government and health leaders are doing and what more they could do. 

Our youth research team is talking with activists, health workers, government leaders, young people and their families to generate evidence that can inform policy.  

Community solutions and climate justice  

We're documenting what communities are already doing to maintain health access during climate events. We're also finding opportunities to strengthen those solutions. 

This includes:

• self-care approaches
• mobile health services
• community-led strategies. 

We want to identify solutions that continue to work when main facilities close. 

Our project brings together perspectives across generations – from young people's lived experiences to family and community knowledge. 

By centring diverse voices, we're generating evidence that helps policymakers understand how climate change and sexual health intersect. We're showing what needs to change, to ensure young people can get good care regardless of climate disruptions.