Integrating Gender in Resilience Programming

1. Integrating Gender in Resilience Programming Laurie Starr TANGO International/ TOPS Program Washington, D.C. January 10th, 2017

2. Gender norms & roles • Many variations of gender norms and roles • What characteristics can we agree on? • socially-constructed – what a society considers appropriate for males and females and learned through socialization • affects women and men in all layers of society (family, community, nation/state). • affects all aspects of life (economic, political, social, environmental) • affects how power is used and shared • Not binary • M/F are non-opposing independents (empowering women does not equate to disempowering men)

3. Resilience capacities • Absorptive capacity: the ability to minimize exposure/ sensitivity to shocks and stressors through preventative measures and appropriate coping strategies to avoid permanent, negative impacts. • Adaptive capacity:the ability to make proactive, informed choices and changes in response to external drivers (longer-term social, economic, and environmental change). • Transformative capacity:the ability of systems and structures to provide an enabling environment for systemic change. (Béné C., et al. 2014; Berkes, F., J. Colding and C. Folke. 2003)

4. Resilience response • Capacities alone are not enough – relies on effective use of capacities (response) by people in all layers of society • Sense of individual power & agency • Perceived risk/ opportunity cost • Aspiration/ motivationto adapt in the face of change. • Exposure to alternatives to the status quo • Power dynamics • Political willingness (Béné et al. 2015, Frankenberger et al. 2007).

5. Absorptive Capacity - the ability to manage shocks and stressors in the short term. What influences absorptive capacity? • Supportive economic factors (assets holdings, cash savings, and hazard insurance) • Bonding social capital • Access to safety nets (formal and informal) • Availability of a disaster preparedness and mitigation program

6. How might gender norms and roles influence ABSORPTIVEcapacities and response? • Women: Low rates of ownership and/or control over assets and resources, including equipment/ machines and land • Male/ female differences in post-shock asset divestiture.1 • Women disproportionally vulnerable to environmental risks due to outmigration of men.2 • Higher mortality for women due to gender differences in service access after disaster.3 • Drought / deforestation: Increased burden on women (more likely to be responsible for fetching water and firewood). Quisumbing, 2015 Chindarkar, 2012 Smith, et.al 2014

7. How might gender norms and roles influence ABSORPTIVE capacities and response? (continued) • Inequity in intra-household food distribution> decreased resilience to absorb a health or food security shock/ stressor. • Men: higher prevalence of short-term migration as coping strategy. • Men: potentially less access to informal safety nets than women (prevalence of female-centered VSLs, SACCOs, etc.) • Men: potentially less knowledge about post-shock caregiving needs (illness/ elders/ nutrition) • Men: more often last to evacuate • Men: based on norms, may choose to deal with stressors in unhealthy ways (drinking, forced sex, violence) Oxfam, OCHA, 2014 Ibid.

8. Adaptive Capacity – the ability to make proactive, informed choices in response to longer-term social, economic, and environmental change. What influences adaptive capacity? • exposure to & use of information; human capital • social capital (bridging and linking) • economic factors: livelihood and risk diversification, access to financial resources, asset ownership (and quality of assets ! e.g., land) Berkes. 2003. Frankenberger, et al.. 2013.

9. How might gender norms and roles influence ADAPTIVE capacities and response? • Access to information often occurs in gendered networks. 1 • Norms on women’s physical mobility/ other restrictions limit exposure to information. • Women’s reproductive work/ time burden=reduced ability to adopt NRM- CSA practices.2 • Women’s limited access to and use of credit; limited ownership of and decision-making capacity for productive assets. WDB, 2012 Ringler et al. 2014

10. How might gender norms and roles influence ADAPTIVE capacities and response? • Gender stereotypes that inaccurately determine “suitability” of work for men and women • Confidence level/ limited aspiration; acceptance of current norms/role.1 • Women: Strong bonding social capital may increase adaptation; limited linking social capital may limit adaptation. • Gendered norms regarding male long-term migration (may result in positive or negative response) World Bank, 2012

11. Transformative Capacity–the ability of systems and structures to provide an enabling environment for systemic change What influences transformative capacity? • Enabling environments: governance mechanisms, policies/ regulations; equitable cultural and gendered norms • Institutional inclusivity: men, women, disadvantaged groups • Access to key resources that are part of the wider system: markets, infrastructure, basic services. • Social capital that draws on relationships with entities outside of households’ own group (bridging / linking). • Availability of social protection mechanisms

12. How might gender norms and roles influence TRANSFORMATIVE capacities and response? • Discriminatory regulation and policy at country level trap women in the role of the “diminished opposite” of men.1 • Low institutional inclusivity in government and decision-making bodies • Not culturally-accepted • Women’s self-esteem and confidence • Influence of restricted mobility influences on access to basic services and infrastructure • Migrating males: limited access to formal safety nets in communities Honeywill, 2013

13. Common interventions for strengthening resilience capacities

14. Examples: Gender-sensitive interventions for strengthening resilience capacities

15. Examples: Gender-sensitive interventions for strengthening resilience capacities

16. Thank you