Gender Sensitive Disaster Management: A Toolkit for Practitioners
Source: Oxfam
Date: Dec 2008
This Toolkit is divided into four chapters. The first Chapter clarifies concepts related to gender. The matter is presented in a manner that both facilitates an understanding of the concepts as well as lends itself to being used by concerned agencies in gender sensitization exercises.
The second Chapter spells out the consequences that arise when disaster and gender issues interact. The Indian Ocean Tsunami that struck Tamil Nadu in December 2004 is the broad contextual backdrop that illustrates some of the gendered consequences of disasters and disaster management. It comprises multiple cases and outcomes of numerous focus group discussions with the grassroots women, men, and transgender persons. The chapter demonstrates how to view situations through a gender lens. It helps answer the question `Why gender mainstreaming?’
The third Chapter is populated with tools which when applied would promote good practices in integrating gender concerns in disaster response and preparedness.
The last Chapter highlights some good examples of NGOs’ (Non Governmental Organizations) gender sensitive interventions. The chapter also underscores the importance of gender analysis by focusing on some of the unintended negative consequences of seemingly gender sensitive interventions through field based evidences.
Although the Toolkit is location/region specific and draws from disasters in a specific context, it has developed the nuts and bolts for gender mainstreaming by building on the lessons gleaned from the Tsunami response.
The tools are intended for use by all those engaged in the disaster management, i.e., policy makers, donors, NGOs and researchers in their efforts to build resilient and gender-just communities.
