In times of disaster, it’s imperative that disaster response is equitable and considers the complexities gender relations may present. For women and girls, this requires rethinking health and sanitation facilities, accommodation arrangements and the safety of household responsibilities.
Course revamped: Public Health Emergency Management in Asia
This year offered the first Public Health Emergency Management in Asia and the Pacific (PHEMAP-11) Inter-Regional Training Course since it's evaluation and reformatting in 2011 and 2012. Participants of the course analyzed emerging issues that will impact disaster risk management (DRM); from climate change, to the spread of disease, to urbanization and beyond; and then how to strengthen plans for DRM in their countries and communities.
During the course, the role of gender in disaster management was covered and discussed among participants. The discussions led to participants reflecting on how gender equity can be better achieved in their respective home countries.
Dr. Roderico Ofrin, Coordinator of Emergency and Humanitarian Action at the World Health Organization's Regional Office for South East Asia shared his experiences and guided participants towards considering gender in all aspects of their work.Understanding women’s “vulnerabilities”
Dr. Ofrin reflected on his experience with a community that was provided with a sanitation unit to use after disaster made their normal facilities inaccessible. It was not until a female aid worker noticed that women were very rarely at the unit that inquiries were made and it was discovered that the women did not feel safe using the unit alone, so went to the unit as a group twice a day. This meant that many women were left needing to use the bathroom for hours but felt obliged to wait for the protection of the group.
Today many aid agencies ensure that men and women are equally able to access sanitation units, and this often means providing separate facilities for each sex.
Achieving equity in vulnerable societies
Dr Ofrin emphasized the importance of realizing that gender is a social structure. There are physiological differences between sexes, and differentiating between people based on gender is universal, but often aid agencies have employed a “one size fits all” approach, which is often based on a male-oriented view of society, or fails to take women’s needs into account.
“There is a need to recognize the different needs, capacities and contributions of women, girls, men and boys” Dr. Ofrin, said.
During the course he spoke on the need to try to implement gender equality in vulnerable societies before a disaster strikes, enabling women in communities to be considered of equal merit for receiving aid and participating in disaster relief when the time comes. “In most societies gender inequality stems from the fact that women must fulfill three main roles, which are unrecognized and undervalued, and therefore under resourced: reproductive, referring to child bearing as well as to their child rearing roles; productive, referring to women's role as income earners in both formal and informal sectors; and community, referring to women’s collective work at the community level” said Dr. Ofrin in his presentation.
“Working towards gender equality does not mean sameness between men and women, but rather that both can exercise their rights in an equitable process which recognizes that their starting points are different, but nevertheless equal” Dr. Ofrin went on.