Gender in disaster management/ humanitarian aid

Gender – “The differences between women and men within the same household and within and between cultures that are socially and culturally constructed and change over time. These differences are reflected in roles, responsibilities, access to resources, constraints, opportunities, needs, perceptions, views et cetera held by both women and men. Thus, gender is not a synonym for women, but considers both women and men and their interdependent relationships.” (Carolyn Moser, 1993)

Women and men, and girls and boys, have the same entitlement to humanitarian assistance; to respect for their human dignity; to acknowledgement of their equal human capacities, including the capacity to make choices; to the same opportunities to act on those choices; and to the same level of power to shape the outcome of their actions. Humanitarian responses are more effective when they are based on an understanding of the different needs, vulnerabilities, interests, capacities and coping strategies of men and women and the differing impacts of disaster upon them. The understanding of these differences, as well as of inequalities in women’s and men’s roles and workloads, access to and control of resources, decision-making power and opportunities for skills development, is achieved through gender analysis. Gender cuts across all the other cross-cutting issues. Humanitarian aims of proportionality and impartiality mean that attention must be paid to achieving fairness between women and men and ensuring equality of outcome.

Also in the case of ICCO/ Kerkinactie the successes of a humanitarian program/ project highly depends on a thorough gender analysis and follow up.

The list below holds a set of key questions which can be used for gender analyses, planning and monitoring for ICCO/ Kerkinactie programs and projects. It is important to notice that this should be used as a guideline not a static checklist. 

Key questions Gender analyses, planning and monitoring in disaster management/ humanitarian aid.

(Based on the Code of Conduct for Emergency Aid (1993) and the SPHERE standards)

For more information;

Beck, T and Stelcner, M (1996), Guide to Gender-Sensitive Indicators.

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Quebec.

Dugan, J, Assessing the Opportunity for Sexual Violence against

Women and Children in Refugee Camps.Journal of Humanitarian

Assistance, August 2000. http://www.jha.ac/articles

Enarson, E (2000), Gender and Natural Disasters,Working Paper, In

Focus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction. ILO.

FAO, Gender in Emergencies Annex:manuals, guidelines, major

documents: http://www.fao.org

FAO/WFP (2003), Passport to Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in

Emergency Programmes.

Gender and Disaster Network: http://www.anglia.ac.uk

Gender and Humanitarian Assistance Resource Kit:

http://www.reliefweb.int/library/GHARkit

UNHCR, Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women.

UNICEF (1999), Mainstreaming Gender in Unstable Environments.

http://www.reliefweb.int/library

Vonhof, Suzette & Dijkhorst, Hilde van – Gender and Humanitarian Aid – a literature review of policy and practice; Disaster Studies Wageningen University in coopération with Cordaid (December 2005)