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Date Added to
Site: 13th January 2005 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
Women, Disaster Reduction and Sustainable Development
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| Author |
Inter-agency Secretariat for the International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) |
| Publication
Date |
April 2003 |
| Publisher |
World Meterological Organization (WMO) Bulletin |
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Short Summary |
Disasters affect women and men differently; women
are often worse of than men as a result of disasters and benefit less
from processes of reconstruction. Disaster-reduction which aims to
increase resilience to natural hazards must reflect the fact that
social and economic contexts will largely dictate the magnitude of
a disaster and its effects. These contexts contain gender differences
and inequalities which will influence particular groups' capacity
to cope. The gendered division of labour for example, will influence
income generation, care work and decision-making in the aftermath
of disaster and cultural norms may create problems accessing emergency
shelter. The loss of family support networks can make women, the elderly
and children more vulnerable and disasters frequently see a rise in
female-headed households. Many of these effects on women go undocumented.
This paper provides examples of initiatives where a gender-sensitive
approach has been used to disaster management. A risk-assessment model
in the Caribbean involved women in the research process and in coming
up with guidelines; windows of opportunity to transform gender roles
were found after hurricane Mitch in which education programmes and
campaigns were conducted by NGOs and opportunities were exploited
for women to gain non-traditional skills and employment. The paper
also describes programmes to ensure that women have access to early
warning information through targeting them with forecasts using information
channels that are appropriate for them. Recommendations include: increasing
women's role in leadership and management; recognition of the gendered
effects of disasters on women's livelihoods and caring roles; recognition
of women's existing work in disaster management such as preserving
seeds and conserving water; conduction of gender-sensitive risk assessments;
sharing of information and expertise. |
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