Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies: Gender

"Environmental emergencies1 are defined as sudden onset disasters or accidents resulting from natural, technological or human-induced factors, or a combination of these that cause or threaten to cause severe environmental damage as well as loss of human lives and property.

The EEC was established in 2012 with financial and in-kind support of Member States. The UN Environment Programme / UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Joint Environment Unit acts as the custodian of the site. The EEC draws on the resources, services and expertise of EEC partners (link to Partner network page), allowing users to draw on a wide range of tools and services. The EEC is designed for everyone, communities and governments alike, seeking training, knowledge, experience and good practice to strengthen preparedness and effective response to environmental emergencies and disasters."

"The need for women’s leadership and gender-responsive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and resilience-building were at the centre of the sessions recently organized by UN Women in the context of the World Reconstruction Conference 4 (WRC4), on 13-14 May, and the 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP), on 15-17 May, in Geneva.

Due to the gendered dimensions of disaster risk, women and girls face greater vulnerability and exposure to disasters. Women’s actual and potential contributions to DRR, including their leadership as first responders and their central role in community resilience, continue to be largely untapped assets in DRR, resilience, recovery and reconstruction strategies. Evidence has proven that harnessing women’s leadership, experience and knowledge into these efforts yields more effective initiatives. The events brought together representatives of United Nations Member States, international organizations, private sector actors, academia and civil society to advance this agenda."

"Disaster risk reduction (DRR) involves reducing disaster risks through efforts to analyse and reduce their causes. Gender-responsive disaster risk reduction refers to analysing and taking into account the needs, opportunities, roles and relationships of women, men, boys and girls formed by gender norms within a given culture and society. It requires specific attention to women’s rights and gender equality as part of a proactive and people-centred approach to reducing risks and vulnerabilities.

Disasters affect women, men, boys and girls in different ways. Gender inequalities increase women’s and girls’ vulnerability because they limit women’s and girl’s access to information and resources. This makes it more difficult for them to be resilient and recover from disasters."

"What are the connections between women’s inequality and our health during a disaster? For example, why are women more likely to be victims of violence after an earthquake? Why is it better to put emergency food aid directly into the hands of women, instead of men? And why is preventing sexual assault against women crucial in the fight against HIV/AIDS? In this primer we explore these and other questions. Gender, health and disaster is a growing area of study that is enabling aid workers and others striving to help all people - women, men, girls and boys – survive during catastrophes.

“Disaster” can refer to a multitude of terrible events: from hurricanes to oil spills to stock market crashes. We focus in this Primer on natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, and war. We also look at the ‘collateral damage’ of disaster, such as how violence against women rises in its aftermath. Not least, we examine why marginalized women – poor women, women of colour, Aboriginal women, disabled women – are the most vulnerable when calamity occurs."