Vulnerability was caused by insufficient access to information and early warnings, as well as the fact that they were less likely to know how to swim, and that long clothing hampered their movement.

“It is not often mentioned as a driver of disaster risk alongside poverty, climate change, rapid urbanisation, poor land use, weak governance but there is no doubt that this Global Platform has put gender inequality on the map as a driver of disaster risk,” said Mr. Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of UNISDR.

His remarks were echoed by Ms. Inonge Wina, Vice-President of Zambia: “At the bottom of this, we find that gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. It’s about time that women be recognised. And women should also be in a position to assume leadership themselves.”

Women should not just be seen as disaster victims, she and the other speakers underlined.

“Women are not just a vulnerable group. They are also agents of change,” said Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.

Women have huge potential and actual engagement and leadership in disaster risk reduction, and their often unique roles in resilience building, disaster response and recovery. They are often first responders when disaster strikes, tending to the needs of their families and communities and coping with the adverse impact on their livelihood and possessions.

UN Women, the IFRC and UNISDR on Thursday joined forces to launch the “Global Programme in Support of a Gender Responsive Sendai Framework Implementation: Addressing the Gender Inequality of Risk and Promoting Community Resilience to Natural Hazards in a Changing Climate”, or GIR for short. The goal of the global programme is to reduce loss of lives and livelihoods, and to enhance the resilience of communities to natural hazards by addressing the gender inequalities that are exploited and worsened by disasters.

Date:

26 May 2017

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Themes:

Gender

Regions:

Africa, Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania