Defines disasters and conflict, delineates gender issues in conflicts and disasters, summarises UN Conventions/agreements on gender, disasters and conflict and good practices in addresses gender issues in conflicts and disasters

1. Gender, disasters and conflicts
Ranjani and Mercy

2. Objectives
• To reflect on the range of disasters and conflicts
and reasons for the same
• To reflect on the gender and socially
differentiated impact of disasters and conflicts
• To reflect on the sex, gender and socially
differentiated needs and interests at different
stages
• To reflect on ways to strengthen sensitivity of our
own organizations work on disasters and conflicts

3. Disasters

4. Important terms
• Emergencies
• Disasters
• Disaster risk reduction
• Disaster response
• Disaster recovery
• Human made or natural or both
• Nature of disasters

5. Exercise 1: gender issues in disasters
• Hypothetical situations/case studies

6. Questions
• How far are the women and men likely to have
access to early warning systems and be prepared
for the disaster?
• What is the likely impact of disaster on women
and men in the hypothetical situation/case
study?
• What is the likely access of the women and men
concerned to response and recovery in the
hypothetical situation/case study? To
participation?

7. Gender issues in disaster situations
• Disaster preparedness measures often do not
reach women, marginalized men and
transgender people
• Disasters have worse impact – e.g death-on
above groups
• The above groups have lesser access to
response and recovery measures
• The above groups face greater assault on their
bodily integrity

8. Gender issues in disaster situations
• The above groups are less represented in
leadership positions and exercise leadership
• The needs and interests of the above groups
are not taken into account in
preparedness, response, recovery
• The above groups face greater increase in
their work load

9. Reasons: Sex or gender?
• Sex
• Gender
• Combination

10. Reasons continued
Individual
identity
Household
identity
Community
identity
Habitat
location

11. Reasons continued
Pre existing norms
Gender blind/neutral
policies in pre-
disaster contexts
Gender blind /neutral
disaster policies and
law

12. Two forms of unequal access
• Exclusion :e.g. denied housing
• Unwanted inclusion: e.g. girl child labour
May strengthen pre existing biases or lead to
new ones

13. A word of caution
• Though women and girls bear a
disproportionate burden of disasters, men and
boys are also affected in gender specific ways

14. Exercise 2: Gender differentiated
needs and interests
Disaster risk reduction
Response and recovery
• Food & Non food items
• Nutrition and child care, health
• WATSAN
• Shelter
• Education
• Livelihood
• Violence
• participation

15. Conflict

16. Important terms
• Conflict
• Conflict prevention
• Conflict recovery
• Disarmament
• Demobilization
• Reintegration

17. Different types of conflict
• Where armed groups are conservative for
women
• Where armed groups are progressive
• Neither conservative nor progressive but are
struggling for autonomy of a particular area or
people.

18. Gender issues in conflict
• Hypothetical situations/case studies

19. Gender issues before conflict
• More men than women mobilized as soldiers
• If refused to join they are called as
transgender or women

20. Other Gender issues during conflict
• Men and women involved in different ways in
conflict situations
• High rates of sexual violence
• Increase in number of women headed
households
• Women relatives of men involved in armed
conflict enter new roles
• Huge displacement- gender issues in response
stage of disasters applies here

21. Gender issues in post conflict
• Privacy for women in disarmament
• Special needs of women, transgender people
in demobilization ignored
• Women have lesser access to recovery
• Women, marginalized men and transgender
people less found in peace committees
• Women face greater problems in reintegration
• Women get pushed back into traditional roles

22. Gender issues in post conflict
• Getting justice in case of sexual violence is
difficult
• Less emphasis on involving women in electoral
process
• Less participation of women in peace
committees

23. Various guidelines
• IASC, 2006 women, girls, boys and men: different
needs equal opportunity gender handbook in
humanitarian action
• IASC, 2005, guidelines for gender based violence
interventions in humanitarian settings
• Inter-agency working group on Reproductive
health in crisis, 2010
• UNDP, 2003 Gender approaches in conflict and
post conflict situations
• UN security council resolution 1325

24. IASC: women, girls, boys and men:
different needs equal opportunity
• Multi sectors- registering, site selection additions
• Gender based violence as cross cutting in each
• Analysis, design, access, participation, training
capacity building, targeted action based on
analysis, monitoring and evaluation, coordination
• No focus on DRR, or distinction between
response and recovery. Similarly no distinction
between different stages of conflict
• Transgender missing

25. IASC, 2005, guidelines for gender based violence
interventions in humanitarian settings
• Various sectors
• Coordination, human resources, protection,
• Emergency preparedness, minimum
prevention and response and comprehensive
prevention and response
• Transgender missing
• More applicable to disasters than conflicts

26. MISP for RH Fact sheet
• Investing in responsibility for coordination of
RH work
• Prevention of sexual violence
• Reduce the transmission of HIV
• Prevent excess maternal and neo natal
mortality
• Focuses mainly on response stage
• No reference to transgender people

27. UN resolution 1325
• Representation of women in decision making
• Govt. to appoint more women as special envoys
• Expand the role of women in UN field based operations
• Gender perspective in repatriation, resettlement and
rehabilitation,
• Gender perspective in peace keeping operations and all
field operations
• Gender training and HIV/AIDS awareness training for
army
• Measures against gender based violence, and put an
end to impunity and prosecute those responsible

28. Overall
• While there are several important
guidelines, not all stakeholders aware of the
same
• Operationalized to varying degrees in
countries due to above as well as constraints
of funds, co-ordination and socio economic
and political contexts
• NGOs can use only UN Resolution 1325 to
hold governments to account
• Transgender issues are not well integrated.