Climate change is today an urgent threat, posing grave danger and requiring immediate attention. In order to adapt to the changes, policies, plans, and programmes have been created all over the world, such as the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). Several authors and organisations have advocated for the importance of integrating a gender perspective into such climate change documents (Skinner, 2011; Bee, Biermann, and Tschakert, 2013; Lau et al., 2021). Nevertheless, at the time of writing, research is missing on NAPs in regard to gender. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to fill this gap through an analysis of the NAPs with a focus on gender. The sample is 12 countries, all from Sub-Saharan Africa because of the area’s high relevance regarding climate change. The objective of the thesis is to analyse the content of the selected NAPs regarding the integration of gender considerations. Using the theoretical framework of Gender and Development (GAD), the thesis aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of how the chosen NAPs address gender-related concerns. The methodology is a qualitative abductive desk study through qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest that gender considerations are not very well integrated into the NAPs and that women are primarily framed as vulnerable and very rarely as having key capacities or being agents of change. Additionally, from the perspective of GAD, several shortcomings are identified.

National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) are central instruments supporting developing countries in their adaptation efforts and enhancing climate resilience. As the NAP documents outline a country's vulnerabilities to climate change and planned adaptation strategies, it is essential to examine how the most vulnerable groups are considered. In the IPCC’s Sixth Synthesis Report, the concepts of maladaptation and transformational adaptation feature prominently, with prior research connecting these concepts to the inclusion of vulnerable groups in adaptation efforts.This thesis provides an in-depth assessment of how vulnerable groups and communities are considered in the three selected NAPs of Bhutan, the Marshall Islands, and Zambia. A normative theoretical framework, the maladaptation-transformative adaptation continuum, is developed from relevant academic research to examine the consideration of vulnerable groups and communities throughout the NAP. Utilising a deductive qualitative content analysis, the central elements of this framework will be operationalised to review the three selected NAP documents. The findings indicate that all of the examined NAPs take vulnerable groups and communities into account by explicitly identifying the most vulnerable social groups, and including adaptation actions that target these vulnerable groups. The inclusion of vulnerable groups and communities in the formulation process and the planned implementation of adaptation measures vary, reflecting different positions along the maladaptation-transformative adaptation continuum.