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Pakistan

Key gender issues in the South Asia earthquake response

Gender and age issues - ensuring the needs and concerns of women and men, girls and boys as well as ensuring their equal participation in shaping the response - should be identified and mainstreamed in all aspects of the emergency response. The following is a preliminary checklist for use in assessment and fact-finding missions. More detailed gender and age analysis by sector will be needed for planning purposes.
Specific Gender Considerations in Pakistan

Society in Pakistan is organized to protect the family institution and women play a critical role in upholding the honour and integrity of the family name. This is in large part why women are chaperoned when outside the house, so that their safety and reputation can be ensured. This same protection of course serves to restrict mobility and therefore reduce timely access to resources. It could be that women are not able to access the emergency relief supplies because of the needs for chaperoning.

It may be that women that are widowed or caring for injured family members must now navigate the recovery process by themselves and are therefore faced with multiple challenges:

- vulnerability due to having to carry out relief activities by themselves

- vulnerability to sexual violence because they are alone and therefore unprotected

- a lack of capacity in negotiating for needed supplies if they are used to being cared for and protected by male relatives or husbands

There may be both male and female vulnerability to inter-tribal violence as boundaries are no longer clear.

Child trade is another risk that may precipitated by the earthquake, as families struggle economically and may feel compelled to marry girls prematurely to make ends meet

Drug abuse, especially of males, is another possible outcome of the earthquake. It was seen in Bam, Iran, that drug abuse increased sharply, both among males and females, subsequent to the earthquake there.

General and Cross-Cutting Issues

1. How have men and women, girls and boys been affected differently by the disaster and the displacement? Have women and men been affected differently by specific events such as destruction of schools, roads, sanitation facilities, markets, homes, etc.?

2. What are the different coping mechanisms used by men, women, girls and boys? What resources/supports are they using to survive? Are these in jeopardy or over-stretched?

3. Do women have equal access to resources? What would help increase their access to resources?

4. What specific power structures can be identified within communities? What are the specific threats or risks facing women and girls in the current environment?

5. What are the prevailing attitudes, religious and cultural norms and practices that affect women's ability to contribute to and benefit from assistance?

6. Are women and women's organizations involved in decision-making? What barriers prevent women and girls from meaningful participation and involvement in decision-making? Is a participatory assessment/ approach being used?

7. What programmes are in place to prevent and respond to violence, abuse and exploitation against women and girls including trafficking?

8. Is there a gender theme group? What is the national coordination mechanism for gender or women's issues?

9. Is data being collected and analyzed disaggregated by sex and age? What is the age and sex breakdown for those who died?

10. Are equal numbers of women and men being hired for both international and national staff positions?

Health and Nutrition

1. How is the health sector meeting the different health needs of women and men? Is access to services equal for men and women?

2. Are there women health providers (medical doctors, ob-gyns, midwives) Do women have access to female health care providers?

3. Are reproductive health services in available men, women and adolescents? Is the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) being implemented

4. Are health and psycho-social services available for survivors of sexual violence?

5. What programmes are available to address psychosocial/mental health needs of the community, particularly for women and girls?

Water Supply and Sanitation

6. What are the constraints to women and men, girls and boys in accessing appropriate water and sanitation facilities, water quality, water quantity, reliability, distance from source, distance from latrines, appropriate technology, maintenance, cultural acceptability?

7. Have feminine hygiene needs been addressed?

Education

8. Do girls and boys have equal access to schools? Are programmes in place to ensure that girls and boys in practical terms (safe roads, hours sitting, household obligations, and separate latrines) can access schools?"

9. What actions are in place to accommodate the education needs of disabled, orphaned, separated or otherwise unaccompanied children?

10. How are Codes of Conduct used to ensure appropriate behavior of teachers?

Agriculture and Food Security

11. What community power structures exist in relation to the use of food? What are the different roles of women and men in food management at the household level? Who receives food aid on behalf of the family? Are ration cards issued to women in order to strengthen their control over food?

12. How do gender, age and other disparities between and within groups relate to individuals' vulnerability to food insecurity?

13. Who is responsible for various tasks such as agriculture work, cooking, cleaning, collection of water, firewood, marketing, child-care?

Camp Management and Security

14. Do women and men participate equally in decision-making at the camp or local level? Are programmes in place to build capacity for camp management and equal representations of women?

15. Does the security situation affect men and women differently? Are women being targeted for certain violations?

16. Have both women's and men's needs been considered when designing shelters and site planning?

Telecommunications

17. Who has access to the media and are educational materials and information campaigns targeting illiterate populations?

For additional information visit www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/gender