The Caribbean is currently grappling with the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, a monster Category 5 storm that has etched its name into the history books as one of the most intense meteorological events ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. With sustained winds reaching a terrifying 295 km/h and a central pressure plummeting to 892 mb, Melissa has left a trail of unprecedented destruction across a vast corridor of the archipelago. From the mountainous terrain of Jamaica to the low-lying coastal plains of Cuba and the already vulnerable settlements in Haiti, the storm has triggered a humanitarian emergency that is testing the limits of regional resilience. As the clouds begin to part, the scale of the infrastructural collapse and the depth of the human suffering are becoming painfully clear, prompting an international mobilization led by UN Women and other global partners to address a crisis that is as much about social inequality as it is about wind and rain.
In Jamaica, the impact has been nothing short of transformative for the landscape. More than 13,000 citizens have been forced to flee their homes as floodwaters and landslides rendered entire communities uninhabitable. The government has been forced into a massive logistics operation, activating over 521 shelters across the island to provide a desperate sanctuary for those who have lost everything. These shelters, while providing life-saving cover, are now the front lines of a secondary struggle: the management of health, safety, and basic human dignity under extreme duress. Local reports suggest that the psychological toll on those displaced is immense, as families face the reality of starting over in an economy that was already struggling with the pressures of global inflation.
Further north, Cuba faced the brunt of Melissa’s fury with a logistical mobilization of staggering proportions. In a race against time, authorities evacuated at least 750,000 people from high-risk zones. The primary threat in Cuba was not just the wind, but a lethal storm surge predicted to reach up to four meters, capable of swallowing coastal villages whole. Data from the evacuation centers reveals a critical demographic reality: women and girls constitute more than half of the displaced population. This statistic is not merely a number; it represents a specific set of vulnerabilities. In the chaos of mass displacement, women face heightened risks of gender-based violence, lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, and the interruption of maternal healthcare. The urgency for gender-responsive protection services has never been more acute as these hundreds of thousands of women wait in crowded facilities for the waters to recede.
The Dominican Republic has also been severely battered, with nearly 1.8 million people caught in the storm’s destructive path. The damage to the nation’s "breadbasket" regions is expected to have long-term consequences for food security, as vast swaths of crops were leveled and livestock swept away by flash floods. Meanwhile, in Haiti, the hurricane has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, as well as in the districts of Delmas and Pétion-Ville, at least 5,000 internally displaced persons are currently languishing in informal sites. These individuals, many of whom were already displaced by civil unrest, are now sheltering in flimsy structures that offer little protection against the elements. The lack of clean water and sanitation in these sites has raised the specter of waterborne diseases, adding another layer of peril to an already exhausted population.
As the immediate search and rescue phase transitions into a broader relief effort, the primary needs on the ground are stark. Thousands of homes have been reduced to rubble or suffered catastrophic structural damage. Clean water systems, the lifeblood of any community, have been disrupted or contaminated, leaving millions without a safe source of hydration. The call for potable water, food, blankets, and "dignity kits"—which contain essential hygiene items for women—is echoing across the region. However, humanitarian experts warn that the response must go beyond simply distributing supplies; it must address the structural inequalities that disasters like Hurricane Melissa invariably widen.
One of the most profound but often invisible consequences of such a disaster is the explosion of unpaid care work. As schools close, hospitals become overwhelmed, and public utilities like electricity and water fail, the burden of maintaining the fabric of daily life falls disproportionately on the shoulders of women and girls. In the cramped quarters of emergency shelters, it is women who are primarily responsible for the care of the elderly, the supervision of children, and the support of persons living with disabilities. They must navigate the logistics of feeding their families and maintaining hygiene in environments where the basic tools for these tasks are absent. This "invisible labor" intensifies during a crisis, often forcing women to sacrifice their own health, safety, and any semblance of economic livelihood to ensure the survival of their dependents. UN Women has been vocal in demanding that this burden be recognized and mitigated, arguing that a truly effective emergency response must find ways to reduce and share this labor rather than assuming it will be handled by women by default.
UN Women is currently working at the highest levels of coordination with national governments and the broader United Nations system to ensure that the recovery process is both rights-based and gender-responsive. This is not a solo effort; the agency is collaborating closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Together, these organizations are mobilizing resources aimed at early recovery, protection, and the restoration of livelihoods. The goal is to ensure that the "new normal" following the storm does not simply revert to the old inequalities, but instead builds a more resilient and equitable foundation for the future.
The focus of this international intervention is multi-pronged. First and foremost is the immediate protection of women and girls in displacement settings, ensuring that shelters are safe and that reporting mechanisms for violence are functional. Secondly, there is a push to restore the livelihoods of women, many of whom work in the informal sector or in small-scale agriculture—sectors that are often the last to receive formal insurance or government compensation. By focusing on the economic empowerment of women during the recovery phase, the UN aims to jumpstart local economies from the ground up.
The humanitarian response to Hurricane Melissa serves as a grim reminder that natural disasters are never "gender-neutral." The ways in which people experience a storm, and the ways in which they are able to recover from it, are dictated by their position in society. While the 295 km/h winds hit everyone, the ability to bounce back is hampered for those who lack land rights, those who have less access to liquid capital, and those who are burdened by the lions’ share of domestic responsibilities.
As the Caribbean begins the long, painful process of cleaning up the debris and mourning the lost, the international community is being called upon to stay the course. The humanitarian response must address both the immediate, visceral needs for shelter and food, and the long-term, systemic inequalities that leave women and girls uniquely vulnerable. Women are not merely victims of Hurricane Melissa; they are the primary managers of household recovery and the backbone of community resilience. Recognizing their agency and supporting their specific needs is not just a matter of equity—it is the only way to ensure that the Caribbean can truly recover from a storm of such historic and devastating proportions. The path ahead is long, but the focus remains clear: a recovery that leaves no one behind must begin with those who carry the heaviest load.
