VULNERABLE OR CAPABLE? : Adolescent girls and vulnerability to climate risks. A case study from El Salvador.

Abstract

The recent attention from NGOs and other organizations towards young people underscores a need to improve our understanding of the vulnerability and capacities of the adolescent population in places around the world. Adolescent girls are of particular interest when it comes to vulnerability research, as they can analytically be included in the categories of both children and women. Given two different perspectives on children and women’s vulnerability, viewing them as inherently vulnerable and as potential agents of change, this qualitative study examines the situation and experiences of adolescent girls’ relation to climate risks in two communities in rural El Salvador. This thesis it explores the question of how to conceive adolescent girls’ vulnerability to climate risks, and suggests that a useful approach is to understand them as both vulnerable and capable, within the social context in which they live.