Crawford School of Public Policy

Dr Annabel Dulhunty is one of two recipients of this year’s McMichael Award, which supports early and mid-career researchers to find solutions to the health challenges arising from climate change.

Dr Dulhunty’s project focuses on climate affected communities in India. She is finding that there are different climate adaptation plans that come from a variety of sources, including different levels of government, or non-governmental organisations, but these plans take a one-size-fits-all approach. The policies do not look at the needs of marginalised groups within a community including women, the elderly, or those with disability.
Working alongside Crawford’s Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, Dr Dulhunty found there is a need to focus on this lack of diversity in climate policies. The McMichael Award will enable her to do just that. She hopes to use the award to delve more deeply into the connections between climate change and women’s health and wellbeing, particularly their vulnerability to violence and their overall health outcomes in these climate affected communities.
Dulhunty says, “There is a clear link between climate change and violence against women, we have less scholarship on the diverse policy responses and the different ways climate adaptation plans and strategies can respond to the needs of women and the most vulnerable in disasters.”

She believes this award is an amazing opportunity that will open doors to meet new and interesting people to learn from and collaborate with. She also takes inspiration from her Crawford colleagues who are addressing climate change in innovative ways.
If you would like to read more about this topic, Dr Dulhunty has explored these issues of women’s empowerment and vulnerability to violence in her recently released book ‘Women’s Empowerment and Microcredit Programmes in India: The Possibilities and Limitations of Self-Help Groups.’

Dr Dulhunty received the McMichael Award alongside Dr Amy Dawel, a clinical and cognitive psychologist from the ANU College of Health and Medicine.
The McMichael Award honours Professor Tony McMichael’s (AO) work and legacy of inspiring health professions and environmental leaders around the world. He was a Director for the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University. Professor McMichael was the first person to explain the vital interplay between the health of the environment and the health of the public. In 2007 he was joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. You can learn more about the award here.