G ender, Disaster, Climate: New pathways to reduce risk

1. Gender, Disaster, Climate:New pathways to reduce risk Dr. Elaine Enarson, Independent Scholar, USA 2011 Annual Pat Reid Lecture African Center for Disaster Studies North West University-Potchefstroom, South Africa

2. Overview • Heartfelt thanks! And some impressions • The looping photographs behind me • My purpose this morning • “Connect the dots” in our work to reduce risk • Building resilience: What gender brings • Practical steps and new platforms for action • Your thoughts

3. Connecting the dots

4. A wonderful metaphor for us • Linkages in a long chain of research, activism, policy and substantial field experience • Nodes or entry points for new directions • Stitching the social fabric • Uniting women and men, boys and girls • Crossing ‘borders’ of all kinds • A path way—directional signs—and we must know where we are going and why

5. Reservations about our path • Three discrete lines of action • Gender equality • Disaster risk reduction • Climate change mitigation & adaptation • Visible in • Concepts, language, research agendas, networks, funding streams, policy environments • . . . we don’t have time for this

6. The linkages are there to see • Gender inequalities • Reflect and reinforce unsustainable development • Unsustainable development • Driving force of disaster risk and global warming • Global warming • Reinforces gender and structural inequalities • Driving force of climate disasters These are the facts on the ground. . despite our arguments

7. Gender analysis • We miss the links, sometimes out of ignorance • What gender based analysis is not: • A feminist plot, a Western import, a fad, “women only” • Instead, a new angle of vision • Accurately reflecting the power of sex, sexuality and gender in everyone’s lives • A methodology • Multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional • Practical as well as moral

8. Building resilience: What gender brings

9. Vulnerabilties • Effects of climate variability and disaster risk are not evenly distributed • Who is most endangered? Consider the critical resources needed • Consider how gender relates to this • Gender identities and norms • Historical and cultural patterns of gender relations • Gender differences & gender inequalities • Gendered practices and institutions

10. Capacities-His and Hers • Gender shapes what men bring to the DRR/CCA table • Livelihood assets, resources, tools • Indigenous knowledge, production process • Work related networks • “First Response” occupational experience • Administrative/managerial experience • Formal leadership • Economic power

11. Victims? • Women are risk managers – andalso often highly vulnerable to hazards and disasters • Consider • Risk perception-readiness to act • Life experience—coping skills • Livelihood assets, resources, tools • Work related networks-and social/family networks • “Comprehensive” long-term “responders” • Local/indigenous knowledge • Environmental stewardship

12. Administrative/managerial experience—and family/household management • Community leadership • Formal leadership—and informal political leadership • Diversified incomes, self-help groups, micro-finance networks based on social capital, women’s cooperatives • Nursing, health care outreach skills • Child care/child development skills • Disaster-relevant occupational skills • Social justice organizing and gender justice, too

13. Practical steps and new platforms for action

14. Moving gender • From “hers” to “ours” • From the margins to the center • From the personal to the institutional • From theory to practice • From optional to essential • Gender-aware practice is “good practice”

15. What we too often miss • Without sensitivity to gender we often • Waste mitigation/adaptation, preparedness, relief and recovery resources • Waste talent, skills, energy • Lose opportunities to “build back better” • Reproduce vulnerabilities • Violate women’s human rights

16. (Very) selected examples • GROOTS—Turkey, Jamaica, SSP • Self-Employed Women’s Association—India • Gender Collective—Haiti • Women’s spaces—Banda Aceh • Buddhist/gender trainings—Colombo • La Masica—Honduras • Women Will Rebuild—Miami • And. . • Soroptimist International/ISDR Africa • EMPOWER and Girl Scouts – new badge

17. Building resilience together • Gender equality, DRR and CCA are different social movements but “joined at the hip” • To build meaningful “resilience,” gendered vulnerabilities must be addressed and the capacities of both women and men tapped • Integration is essential • gender into DRR and CCA • DRR and CCA efforts • the work that women and men do in this field • local, national and regional efforts • Sustained gender-responsive practice is vital

18. Consider the possibilities here in South Africa • Power of women as household heads • Power of women as food producers • Women’s historic leadership against apartheid—and • Constitutional foundation for equality • Women’s Parliament, SADC Gender Protocol Alliance, Environment Ministry meeting w women on CC, Durban • Women’s mobilization around climate change, e.g. SAGEN, Energia, Gender and Water Alliance, genCC • Women’s afforestation campaigns, adaptation of new opportunities in the “green economy” • Women in disaster management roles here • Potential of girls—the GIRRL Project in NW Province • Pat Reid!

19. Strong foundations & strong need • Addressing disaster management specifically • Knowing we are all ‘disaster risk managers,’ too • But highlighting the lead role of local govt in DRR • And the value a community-driven approach adds • When women are full and equal partners • Let’s look at some policy guidance • And especially the Hyogo Framework for Action

20. “Efforts to enhance governance of disaster risk reduction will be limited without concurrent initiatives to mainstream gender in disaster risk reduction. This involves promoting gender equality in participation in disaster risk reduction interventions. It also requires empowering women to take decisions to protect their lives and livelihoods. There are development costs to gender bias • and clear benefits to reversing gender inequality. It is therefore important to promote the integration of gender issues in disaster risk reduction. Ways of doing this include expanding opportunities for women participation in decision making and leadership roles in the management of disaster risk reduction organizations and programmes, and promoting the use of formal guidelines on the application of gender-mainstreaming tools in disaster risk reduction. The strategic directions to improve governance of disaster risk reduction institutions are to: • ¥ harmonize terms and policies in disaster risk reduction; • ¥ develop national platforms for disaster risk reduction; • ¥ strengthen decentralization of disaster risk reduction interventions; • ¥ increase public participation in planning and implementing disaster risk reduction interventions; • ¥ increase gender sensitivity of disaster risk reduction policies, legislation and programmes; and • ¥ promote increased inter-country cooperation and coordination.” • Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction, p. 13

21. Gendering the HFA • Five core activities of the Hyogo Framework for Action to Reduce Disaster Risk • Making disaster risk reduction a priority • Identifying, assessing, & monitoring risk/enhancing early warning • Increasing awareness, education and training • Reducing risk in key sectors • Strengthening disaster preparedness

22. “Gender is a core factor in disaster risk and in the implementation of disaster risk reduction. Gender is a central organizing principle in all societies, and therefore women and men are differently at risk from disasters. In all settings - at home, at work or in the neighbourhood - gender shapes the capacities and resources of individuals to minimize harm, adapt to hazards and respond to disasters. It is evident from past disasters that low-income women and those who are marginalized due to marital status, physical ability, age, social stigma or caste are especially disadvantaged. At the grass roots level, on the other hand, women are often well positioned to manage risk due to their roles as both users and managers of environmental resources, as economic providers, and as caregivers and community workers. For these reasons it is necessary to identify and use gender-differentiated information, to ensure that risk reduction strategies are correctly targeted at the most vulnerable groups and are effectively implemented through the roles of both women and men.” Words Into Action: A Guide for Implementing the HFA, p. 5

23. 57 Steps from Words To Action* • OK, let’s make that 20! • For more, see • Enarson, 2010, “Gendering the HFA: 57 Steps from Words to Action, “ in E. Enarson and P.G. D. Chakrabarti (Eds.), Women, Gender and Disaster: Global Issues and Initiatives (Sage Publications) • For links to numerous “good practice” guides mainstreaming gender into DRR and CCA, visit the Gender and Disaster Network website: www.gdnonline.org • And see genCC on climate change: http://www.gendercc.net/

24. HFA # 1--Making disaster risk reduction a priority • Assess the status quo in your area for gaps and opportunities for mainstreaming gender into DRR/CCA • Include strong gender language in policy docs • Write and implement a gender policy • Support formal mechanisms for engaging with women’s bureaus, networks, groups and orgs as long-term stakeholders--along with men’s organizations

25. HFA # 2--Identifying, assessing, & monitoring risk/enhancing early warning • Assess bias in local, state and national information systems-get the data you need • Support gender-sensitive research (only) • Target risk messaging to gender, age and cultural groups, using appropriate media • Partner with women’s networks to capture and exchange knowledge

26. HFA # 3--Increasing awareness, education and training • Identify and prioritize reaching high-risk women /men and boys/girls • Evaluate all trainings/materials for gender content and process, revising as needed • Recruit, train, mentor nontraditional DRR staff /volunteers • Support women and girls as community risk educators through peer-learning projects

27. HFA # 4--Reducing risk in key sectors • Collaborate with gender & development projects e.g. sustainable livelihood, housing, health • Prioritize assisting local social and human service agencies/NGOs for service continuity • Support or develop gender-sensitive post-disaster psychosocial outreach (M/F) • Train up or seek out F/M gender experts on planning teams for reconstruction

28. HFA #5--Strengthening preparedness • Involve local women’s /men’s groups in exercises and preparedness campaigns • Develop and use only gender-sensitive risk profiles • Assess /seek organizational capacity for mainstreaming • Include gender responsiveness in all DRR program evaluation and personal reviews

29. In short • Know the “gendered terrain” of your community and go where women and men are—be part of their worlds, take DRR/CCA to them • Ask the hard questions about gender and work with others to answer them • Understand, value and use the resources and talents of women and men in a sustained way • Integrate gender concerns in all aspects of programming • Make gender mainstreaming everyone’s job and reward success • Connect the dots. . .

30. Looking forward to your ideas With thanks for you kind attention enarsone@gmail.com