Guidelines for Gender-Sensitive Disaster Management (original) (raw)
Related papers
Panel 2.3: gender dimensions and human rights aspects to responses and recovery
Prehospital and disaster medicine
This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of the Gender Dimensions and Human Rights Aspects to Responses and Recovery of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04-06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to gender dimensions and human rights pertaining to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) gaps encountered and major issues; (2) limitations of response; (3) what could have been done better?; and (4) recommendations.
Disaster Mitigation and Furthering Women's Rights
Vulnerability has long been accepted as an important factor in post-disaster recovery which affects the ability of the survivors to recover from multi-dimensional impacts. This comparative and cross-cultural study of the effects of tsunami on women in four countries looks more closely into the factors and processes that have led to the exclusion of certain groups of women from relief and recovery assistance. These include female heads of households, widows, the elderly and those belonging to marginalized groups such as migrants and stateless communities. Examining the current gender-neutral framing of social protection systems in the disaster areas and their operations, I show that vulnerability is not only an outcome of localized and individual dimensions like age, gender and marital status but that they have deeper relations with national and global powers who perpetuate institutionalized discrimination through such systems, and how they are unable to give these groups of women the much needed protection and assistance to live with dignity. A case is made for the recognition of compounded discrimination based on the fact that their vulnerable positions prior to the disaster have indeed led to their exclusion from relief and recovery activities, leaving them poorer and worst-off. Further, to redress this trend I propose a women's human rights strategy in disaster management which adopts as its Note: The empirical data used in the research article were collected and used to develop reports for ActionAid by the author when she was the Women's Rights advisor for Tsunami with Action Aid International. However, the analysis and conclusions in this article are the responsibility of the author alone and do not reflect the views of ActionAid.
2001
The "window of opportunity" for social change after an earthquake or other disaster slams shut quickly in the absence of strategic long-range planning. The rush to reconstruct "normalcy" is difficult to resist but is manifestly a false start, as just these routine political-economic, social, and gender arrangements put people in harm's way. The rebuilding of Gujarat can reflect and promote the status quo ante or, alternatively, realize a new vision of the future which creatively integrates post-disaster rehabilitation, vulnerability reduction, and sustainable development goals. As women are key social actors before, during, and after disastrous events, the reconstruction of homes, livelihoods and futures across Gujarat cannot succeed without their full engagement at all levels and across all sectors.
Upscaling Disaster Resilience in Southeast Asia_Engaging Women through the WPS agenda.pdf
RSIS Policy Report, 2018
The Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)’s move towards an integrated and people-centred community presents an opportune moment for relooking issues surrounding women and their role in this envisioned integration. One key area where this integration can take place is in ASEAN’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief policies. A deeper acknowledgment of the gendered nature of disaster response in existing arrangements will help in planning strategic and more effective measures to create a disaster resilient region. A key conceptual tool that can be used in this is the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). Its transformative appeal can be harnessed to address perceived gaps, vis-à-vis women’s participation, in decision-making and planning strategies. It is hoped that through this initiative, overall community resilience will be enhanced. In addition, the incorporation of the fundamental pillars of UNSCR 1325 can produce more sustainable rehabilitation and recovery strategies for communities.
From women's needs to women's rights in disasters
Global Environmental Change Part B: …, 2001
Writing after a major Australian flood, an observer noted that women's concerns after the flood were ''an extreme version of what they did before the flood'' (Dobson, 1994, p. 11). Child care, domestic labor, employment and community work all increased, as did violence against women and strain on caregiving networks. ''Human relationships were laid bare and the strengths and weaknesses in relationships came more sharply into focus.'' As violation of women's rights is also more stark when catastrophic events transform physical and social worlds, we make a practical and a political case for explicitly addressing gender equality in the Treaty on human rights to disaster assistance proposed by Wisner and others in the preceding papers.
UN WOMEN, UNFPA, UNDRR, 2021
Beyond Vulnerability to Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment and Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction: Critical Actions for the United Nations System: A United Nations Joint Study on the Status of Gender Equality and Women's Leadership in DRR Executive Summary Study rationale Disasters continue to exacerbate many of the prevailing gender inequalities that exist in societies. This can be seen in the disproportionate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women and girls. It caused indirect health impacts through a breakdown of sexual and reproductive health services and a ‘shadow pandemic’ of gender-based violence. It also led to cascading economic consequences due to women’s increased unpaid care roles and job losses in education, childcare, tourism and informal sectors where more women than men earn their living. Evidence is also beginning to emerge of differential COVID-19 impacts on people of diverse genders. However, such gender differences are not unique to a pandemic disaster. The direct and indirect impacts of disasters, and the disruptions and displacement caused by climate change, generally reinforce the patterns of inequality already present. The problem of gender inequality in development, including in disaster risk reduction (DRR), has been named in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, in the 2030 Agenda and in the Sustainable Development Goals, and to an extent in the Paris Agreement. It was named in the Hyogo Framework for Action, in the Millennium Development Goals, a generation ago in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, still earlier in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and in numerous other United Nations and regional organizations’ resolutions and declarations. The problem has been named, but clearly that is not enough. If it was easy to resolve the challenge of ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment and leadership in building the resilience of nations and communities, it would be done by now. But it is far from done. Despite much effort and many good practices in reducing disaster and climate risk, the outcomes on gender equality, especially as it relates to women and girls, remain patchy and partial. If DRR and climate change adaptation (CCA) do not include positive measures to close the gender inequality gap they cannot fulfil the transformative ambitions of the post-2015 agreements. Likewise, if DRR and CCA do not recognize women’s current contributions and empower them to participate meaningfully, in significant numbers and in leadership and decision-making roles at all levels, these mechanisms for risk governance can never reach their full potential to reduce risk for all women and men, boys and girls. This report asks what needs to change in the approach of the United Nations system as a whole to make significant practical progress on gender equality in disaster risk reduction by 2030. It asks how the United Nations system, and each individual entity, can better support Member States to empower women and promote women’s leadership in disaster and climate risk governance to underpin risk-informed sustainable development that leaves no one behind. It proposes that, in the absence of a deep level change, we as an international community may arrive at the year 2030 only to find ourselves making the same recommendations on gender and risk reduction as we made in 2015.
Introduction: gender, humanitarian action and crisis response
Gender & Development
In this issue, we feature an array of articles commissioned with the goal of supporting humanitarian programming that promotes gender equality, women's rights, women's empowerment and leadership. Conflicts and disasters around the world have left an estimated 131.7 million people in need of international humanitarian assistance to survive, maintain life, and meet essential needs for resources, security, and protection (OCHA 2018a, 4). By the end of 2018, 70.8 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide (UNHCR 2019, 2). The global population of forcibly displaced increased by 2.3 million people in 2018, and there were 37,000 new displacements every day (ibid.). Roughly half of all these displaced persons are women and girls, who are differently and often disproportionately affected by both disasters and violent conflicts. During and after crises, pre-existing gender inequality and discrimination create particular challenges for women and girls. As a result, many endure extreme hardships, including increased insecurity, restricted mobility, sexual exploitation and abuse, and gender-based violence (GBV) (ICRC 2018). Women's livelihoods also tend to be disproportionally affected (CARE International 2017), and girls in crisis are more likely than boys to lose out on education (UNHCR n.d.). At the same time, the lack of healthcare in humanitarian settings has particular impact on women's sexual and reproductive health needs: 60 per cent of preventable maternal deaths take place in emergency settings (UNFPA 2015, 4). In an emergency, pre-existing gender inequality and discrimination tend to be further exacerbated, due to sudden shifts in gender roles and relations. Gendered social norms affect women's and girls' ability to make decisions, to propose solutions, and to lead, constraining women's lives and choices. In addition, they also affect the ability of households and wider communities to recover from crisis. Research shows that when women are involved in prevention and crisis response, it leads to better humanitarian outcomes and lowers risks (UN Women 2015). Gender equality programming thereby generates a more effective humanitarian response and a more efficient use of the limited funds available for such responses. An accountable, efficient and transparent humanitarian system that saves more lives, should recognise and value women's agency and gender-specific needs. It should support