UN Women Humanitarian Action Strategy 2014-2017

1. UN Women Humanitarian Action Strategy 2014-2017

2. Background • Crisesare not gender-neutral; women, girls, boys and men of all ages - are affected differently and their needs, capacities and coping strategies are distinct. • And just as crises are not gender-neutral, humanitarian action cannot be either. • Integration of gender in Humanitarian Action has fallen largely to the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Gender and Humanitarian Action sub-working group with limited mandate to influence policies and operations. • Engendering Humanitarian Action needs to be systematic and sustainable instead of relying heavily on experience and personal initiatives of ‘gender champions’.

3. Mission Statement* • “Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the composite entity will work for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security”. • *Secretary-General’s comprehensive proposal for the new entity: A/64/588, para. 5

4. Contextual Framework for UN Women’s Engagement • Mandate for UN interagency coordination and leadership on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment ; • Existing and emerging partnerships with Humanitarian UN Agencies; • Strong relationship with Women’s Movement and Gender Machineries; • Ongoing work and presence in crisis-affected/disaster prone countries and regions; • Reform processes that are shaping the future of Humanitarian Action.

5. UN Women in Humanitarian Action • Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction • Humanitarian Response and Early Recovery • Post Conflict and Post Disaster Needs Assessment

6. Humanitarian Action in UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2014-17 • Under Impact 4: Peace and security and humanitarian action are shaped by women leadership and participation • Outcome 4.3 :Intergovernmental gender equality commitments in humanitarian action are adopted and implemented. • Result 1: The development of evidence-based knowledge, including performance measurement and accountability frameworks; • Result 2: Enhancing national and regional capacity of institutions and partners; • Result 3:Strengthening gender-responsive coordination mechanisms and gender equality programming ;

7. Priority Approaches • UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy sets out a three tier implementation approach: • Coordination and Leadership to mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment in Humanitarian Action • Operational Coordination at country level through Cluster Coordination System and Gender Theme Groups • Targeted programme interventions based on demand and comparative advantage • Development of evidence based knowledge

8. Priority Interventions • Seek IASC membership and continue engagement through the IASC Gender Reference Group and GenCapSteering Committee; • Establish and maintain UN Women Crisis Management Capacity and develop standard guidance on organizational response to humanitarian action; • Undertake evidence-based research and knowledge dissemination; • Influence normative policies, frameworks and guidelines including reporting on Gender and Accountability in Humanitarian Action; • Pilot country-level action in selected six countries in partnership with OCHA where UN Women already has on-going work in humanitarian action; • Strengthen the engagement of national women’s machineries in humanitarian action.

9. Next Steps • Build on UN Women’s ongoing work in humanitarian action; • Develop implementation plan, including a resource mobilisation strategy, for roll out of UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy; • Establish partnerships with humanitarian action stakeholders (government institutions, civil society, grassroots organizations, academia).

10. Thank you