Putting Women and Girls in the Driver's Seat

In her article, “Bridging the Gender Gap”, Melinda Gates highlights the importance of a recent report released by the U.N. on its Post-2015 Development Agenda, which calls for interventions that ensure women and girls benefit equally from investments in social and economic development. The report, compiled by the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, recommends that the post-2015 agenda include a gender equity goal that targets gender-based violence and child marriage, and promotes property rights for women.

Although this goal is imperative, as Gates goes on to explain, the “real breakthrough” is the panel’s recommendation that data on every single goal and target be broken out by gender. Disaggregating data collected for each post-2015 goal will inform the international community about whether the progress being made applies to women and men equally. As Gates describes, “This has not always been the case, and our inability to disaggregate this data leads to solutions biased toward men.”

In the article, Gates provides examples that illuminate why women and girls are critical to achieving international development objectives, as well as strong evidence that explains how collecting sex disaggregated data will help strengthen the impact of development initiatives. Gates argues that the “mere fact that women and girls can drive development isn’t enough.” Instead, "what we need is a system designed to put them in the driver’s seat. And one linchpin of that system is data we can use to monitor, evaluate and constantly improve development programs.”

Mercy Corps recognizes the need for evidence-based approaches to programs, and recently developed beneficiary counting guidelines that include sex and age disaggregated data. This week, I'm finishing a summer-long project to compile and develop gender indicators that will help the agency better measure the outputs, outcomes, and impact of gender integration at the program and sector-levels. It's clear that Mercy Corps is well on its way toward its own "data revolution" and Gates' article helped remind me just how important this can be.
 

Climate Adaptation - Does Gender Matter?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been researching gender integration in resilience strategies. Efforts to build resilience within the international development community have often focused on strengthening capacities to adapt to shocks and stresses caused by climate change and disasters. Some organizations take an even broader approach to resilience, and include initiatives to strengthen responses to economic, political, and social shocks (that may or may not be linked to climate change or disasters).
 
I’ve already posted on the gender dimensions of disasters, but inextricably linked, are the gender dimensions of climate change. In helping Sahar “make the case” for gender integration in resilience, I’ve been looking at gender-sensitive approaches to climate adaptation, and have come across some really fascinating resources. Many of us think that climate change impacts us all in a similar manner and that we are affected - and adapt - in similar ways. However, when we start to dig a bit deeper, numerous differences become apparent.
 
As highlighted by this Climate Change Brief from CARE International, all members of a community – or even the same household – are not equally affected by a climate hazard (such as a flood or drought). That’s because some individuals have greater capacity than others to manage the crisis. “The inequitable distribution of rights, resources and power – as well as repressive cultural rules and norms – constrains many people’s ability to take action on climate change. This is especially true for women and girls.” So, if we want to understand vulnerability to climate change, gender is a crucial piece of the puzzle.[1]

Although it is certainly true that both men and women are vulnerable to climate change, as this Heinrich Böll  Foundation report points out, “women [are] frequently exposed to additional gender-specific vulnerabilities and barriers that consistently render them more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change…and prevent them from utilizing their specific skills and knowledge (such as in resource management and conservation) that can improve mitigation and adaptation outcomes.”[2]

Women and men experience, perceive and identify risks differently. “Everyone can be equally exposed to a hazard, but women and men have different levels of vulnerability and access to resources, and have therefore developed different coping skills.”[3] Furthermore, the impacts of climate change typically magnify existing inequalities between men and women, and often affect the gender-specific roles and responsibilities of women as food producers and providers, care-givers, and economic actors.  For example, changes such as drought, saline intrusion into water sources, and erratic rainfall all create additional challenges for securing resources such as food, water, and fuel – something women and girls are typically responsible for in their households and communities. “As part of their traditional care burden, up to 86 percent of rural women in low income countries have to fetch freshwater for their families. Stress on freshwater resources from climate change results in women having to travel longer distances for longer periods of time to fetch water, increasing their exposure to gender-based violence, and limiting their ability to engage in educational or income-earning activities or participate in community meetings or decision-making.”[4]



Women from Caicaoan village, Uganda, collecting water from the traditional water hole. Photo source: Geoff Sayer/Oxfam (2008). Accessed from Oxfam

As Oxfam outlines in Gender, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change Adaptation: A Learning Companion:

·       Women are more likely than men to be killed or injured as a direct result of climate-related disasters

·       Women depend most directly on natural resources to provide for their families. They are usually the main collectors of water and fuel, and most women farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture.

·       Female-headed households are often among the poorest and the most vulnerable to disaster and climate change, as they may have little choice other than to live in precarious locations such as flood-prone lands, or on steep slopes.

·       Women tend to have fewer assets to rely on than men. In economic terms, they are less likely to own their own land, or have access to credit, agricultural extension services, and transportation.

·       Violence against women, both from intimate partners and unknown men, is known to rise after climate-related disasters. The risk of this may be increased by a lack of privacy and safety in camps or shelters; coercion to provide sex for goods or services; and a backlash against women who have taken on new leadership roles.[5]

 

It’s critical to note, however, that women are not just victims of climate change and disasters. They can serve as powerful agents of change in their communities and demonstrate extraordinary powers of resilience during disasters. “Women have repeatedly led initiatives to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and their knowledge and responsibilities related to natural resource management have proven critical to community survival.”[6] They have also been essential in mobilizing preparations and responses to climate-related disasters. It is therefore imperative that organizations that are implementing climate adaptation or risk reduction programs harness the skills, experiences, and capacities of women.

 

Woman cooks food on a raft in front of her flooded kitchen in Bogra, Bangladesh. Photo source: EPA/Abir Abdullah. Accessed from Oxfam.

 

As highlighted in this UNDP Policy Brief:

Adaptation initiatives that do not take gender perspectives into account may unintentionally perpetuate or worsen gender inequality. For example, diverting fresh water to areas where there is a water shortage (through dikes, water transfers or irrigation canals) may have the unintended consequence of lengthening and intensifying women’s productive and reproductive working day by placing water sources in distant zones.  The design of adaptation plans and activities should recognize and effectively integrate gender considerations for efficient and sustainable outcomes. These examples underscore the need for proper consideration of the interests and contributions of all members of the society, especially women and other vulnerable groups, in the design, planning and financing of adaptation actions.[7]

If you're interested in learning more about the differential-impact of climate change on women, and the need for a gender-integrated adaptation approach,  I really recommend taking a look at "The Importance of Gender-Sensitive Adaptation and Mitigation In and Across Climate-Relevant Sectors" (pages 6-12 of this Heinrich Böll report.) It includes incredible data and examples on sector-specific gender impacts (including the agriculture, REDD+/forest, water, energy, and transportation sectors), and even highlights several climate adaptation programs that have successfully addressed gender vulnerabilities and needs. If I had more time, I would write a post on each, but there's really no need since it's HERE. Enjoy!

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[1] CARE International Climate Change Brief. (2010) “Adaptation, gender, and women’s empowerment.”

http://www.careclimatechange.org/files/toolkit/CARE_Gender_Brief_Oct2010.pdf

[2] Liane Schalatek and Katya Burns (June 20, 2013). “Operationalizing a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund.” Heinrich Boll Foundation, pages 6-12. Full report available at: http://www.boell.org/web/index-Schalatek_Burns_GCF_Gender-Sensitive-Approach.html

[3] UNISDR. (2009). “Making Disaster Risk Reduction Gender Sensitive: Policy and Practice Guidelines.” Available at: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=9922

[4] Liane Schalatek and Katya Burns (June 20, 2013). “Operationalizing a Gender-Sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund.” Heinrich Boll Foundation, pages 6-12. Full report available at: http://www.boell.org/web/index-Schalatek_Burns_GCF_Gender-Sensitive-Approach.html

[5] Oxfam. (2010). “Gender, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Change Adaptation: A Learning Companion.” Available at: http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/gender-disaster-risk-reduction-and-climate-change-adaptation-a-learning-compani-218230

[6] Oxfam (2010).

[7] UNDP (2012). “Policy Brief: Gender and Adaptation.” Available at: http://www.gender-climate.org/Content/Docs/Publications/UNDP_Policy-Brief-Gender-and-Adaptation.pdf

Continued Commitment from USAID on Gender Equality

Last March, USAID released its Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy, a huge step in ensuring the agency's efforts are integrated, evidence-based, and support the world's women and girls. A few days ago, USAID further strengthened its internal efforts to promote gender equality by releasing ADS-205 - Integrating Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in USAID’s Program Cycle.

Since many international development and relief organizations take their cues from donor agencies, these advances within USAID can have a huge impact on how gender is addressed in global development initiatives. Here's a piece I wrote about ADS-205 for Mercy Corps' internal newsletter The Globe - take a look to learn more about this new release from USAID:

For anyone who has implemented a grant from USAID, ADS is likely a familiar resource -- it contains the policies and procedures that guide USAID's programs and operations.

Now the ADS has a new chapter, and it's very relevant to our work because it has to do with gender. "This is a positive sign that USAID continues to prioritize the integration of gender concerns into its programs," says Global Gender Advisor Sahar Alnouri. "They are on a parallel track with Mercy Corps, in the sense that we both have recognized a gender gap and decided to focus on gender as a topic -- and now both Mercy Corps and USAID are at the stage of integrating gender into everything we do."

The new ADS chapter, called "Integrating Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in USAID's Program Cycle," provides guidance for promoting gender equality across USAID's efforts. As a sign of its continued commitment to gender integration, ADS 205 outlines USAID's various polices on gender -- most importantly its Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment -- and explains how they should be implemented in all phases of programming.

The release of this chapter is intended to strengthen the development of USAID's comprehensive gender strategy by providing concrete steps and activities for incorporating gender into the agency's initiatives. Accordingly, gender analysis and integration are now required throughout USAID's program design and implementation, solicitations, performance monitoring and evaluation, reporting and budgeting. ADS 205 applies to all USAID bureaus and missions, as well as policy and operations in Washington and the field. As a result, Mercy Corps can expect to see more sophisticated requests for gender integration moving forward. Learn more about USAID's gender approach.

T-minus 20!

I have less than 20 working days left in my internship, which is a bit terrifying since Sahar and I still have so much we want to get done together. I'm working on several longer-term projects at the moment and I certainly haven't been bored over the past few weeks. Right now I'm busy:

• developing theories of change for gender integration at Mercy Corps, including broader theories for mainstreaming gender throughout the organization and sector-specific theories for gender integration in Mercy Corps' programming;
• compiling gender indicators to measure the organization's progress in gender integration; and
• researching the gender dimensions of community and system resilience.

It's been a whirlwind summer and I'm amazed by how much I've learned about incorporating gender in development programming and operations. I'm also amazed by just how much I love living in Portland. I plan to share a bit more on my everyday life in Portland (including life in the Mercy Corps HQ office) in a future post, but thought I'd give a taste of how fun my summer - outside of the office - has been.

 

Although many associate the Pacific Northwest with rain and gloom, the weather this summer has been beautiful. I'm told the sunny weather doesn't last beyond the summer months, but I couldn't have asked for a better climate for my internship. Plus, Portland is close to so many amazing state and national parks - a great hike is only a short car drive away.

 

Eagle Creek Trail

Beau and Punchbowl Falls

Pre-hike donuts from Voodoo

Mount Hood from a hike on the Mirror Lake trail and up Tom, Dick, and Harry Mountain 

A trip to Crater Lake!

These pictures just don't do it justice...

I've really enjoyed soaking up the sun during these weekend adventures throughout Oregon, and am excited that there are more to come (on my list for this weekend: Silver Creek Falls State Park!)

Why so SADD?

Although the gendered impacts of disasters are still not fully understood (as I mentioned in my last post), over the past two decades, most humanitarian response and disaster relief organizations have begun to recognize the need to support both women and men through their interventions. “In the past decade, humanitarian [organizations] have made considerable progress in developing ways of working—including methods, ‘toolkits,’ and procedures—to help them integrate a gender perspectives into their work.”[1] In particular, disaster relief and humanitarian organizations have increasingly recognized the importance of collecting sex and age disaggregated data (SADD) in order to better inform humanitarian planning and measure the impact of their work on different groups.[2]

So – what is SADD? And why should we care?

According to Mercy Corps’ Gender Procedures:

…[W]e know that is not effective (and we do not have enough resources) to help every community member in the same ways. That is one reason we conduct assessments and develop beneficiary selection criteria – so we can target our assistance to the people who need it the most in ways that make the biggest difference. To best understand who in communities are most vulnerable or most in need, and who is best positioned to make sustainable changes, it is necessary to collect and analyze sex and age data.

Sex and age data is “simply demographic information we collect about program participants’ sex and age.”[3] Sex and age disaggregated data, or SADD, is when we break out data collected by sex and age to “look more precisely at similarities, differences, and trends.” [4]

Separating data in this way provides us with new, useful information that can feed into programming and monitor whether programs are reaching the intended audiences and producing the desired impact. For example, in the chart below entitled “Water and Sanitation Activities by Sex and Age (Ambore, Pakistan), 2010” you’ll notice that men were highly involved in water, sanitation, and hygiene activities (WASH) in Pakistan – for example, men identified and participated in the construction of water sites, they constructed latrines, were responsible for disposing of waste, and shared the responsibility of managing sanitation facilities at the household level. Despite this role, the percentage of men receiving health and hygiene education was much lower than women, and women were the primary target of hygiene education (it appears that women were around 70% of the training beneficiaries, while men constituted about 30%).

 

Sorry it's so hard to read! For a better version, go to the source: Sex and Age Matter, page 71

This is an example of how assumptions can prevent an organization from targeting  and reaching the “right” people in program activities – in this case, training and educating disproportionate amounts of women in health and hygiene when WASH activities are shared by men AND women.

 

So, SADD helps us to:

• Understand who needs what
• Understand who does what, including making decisions and controlling or accessing assets like education or land
• Be strategic about programming to achieve the greatest impact
• Make sure programs reach the people who need help the most.

If you are interested in learning more about SADD, I really recommend reading Sex and Age Matter: Improving Humanitarian Response in Emergencies by Dyan Mazurana, Prisca Benelli, Huma Gupta, and Peter Walker. As the report explains, “When agencies fail to use SADD and/or gender and generational analyses, their interventions can be misguided, fail, or put vulnerable groups at risk.” Sex and Age Matter convinced me that collecting and using SADD allows organizations to deliver more effective and efficient assistance, and I’m really glad that I’ll have a chance this summer to see how Mercy Corps has institutionalized the collection of SADD in its programming.

 

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[1] Hoare, Joanna, Ines Smyth and Caroline Sweetman. “Introduction: post-disaster humanitarian work.” Gender & Development, 20:2, (2012), 205-217.

[2] Hoare, Joanna et al. (2012)

[3] Mercy Corps’ Gender Procedures (2012)

[4] Mercy Corps’ Gender Procedures (2012)

The Gender Dimensions of Disaster

Mercy Corps is well known for its emergency response efforts around the globe, along with its disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction, and resilience programs. Through the ACT for Impact initiative, Sahar (my boss) has spent the past two years working to integrate gender analysis and considerations throughout these programmatic areas. While she's made huge strides, it's clear that certain obstacles still exist. One challenge that remains is the need for increased awareness about why gender should be prioritized in MC's humanitarian relief efforts. Here's my attempt at making the case:

Across cultures, gender is a “central organizing principle” used to define routines and social interactions, and is thus “inescapably part of the social fabric made visible in disasters.”[1] Gender differences often result in men and women having different exposure to natural disasters, and facing differing types and levels of vulnerability in crisis situations.

Women and girls, especially those living in countries where their economic and social rights are restricted, face greater risk of displacement and death from humanitarian crises than men.[2] Major international disasters over the past two decades have yielded higher death tolls among women and girls—some studies estimate that women and children are 14 times more likely to die in natural disasters than are men[3]—and their vulnerability in disasters has been attributed to “the widespread disadvantage, and at times formal discrimination, that they experience in many societies.”[4] Women’s vulnerabilities are made even more acute during crisis situations; women have access to fewer resources and are expected to shoulder the lion’s share of child-rearing and family care responsibilities. Furthermore, “exclusion from decision making, limited mobility, and the threat and experience of various forms of violence against women and girls” have put them at increased risk during crises.[5]

Social and cultural constraints on female mobility have been shown to “hinder self-rescue,” when, for example, it is culturally inappropriate for women to leave the home without male permission or if provided shelter and shared communal facilities do not have separate, private spaces apart from men.[6] The important implications these expectations have on women’s survival has been documented in a variety of cases. When Cyclone Gorky hit Bangladesh in 1991, women reported not responding to warnings or moving to safety for fear of being stigmatized for breaking the socio-cultural norm of purdah, choosing instead to wait at home for a male family member to return to accompany them.[7] Ultimately, women and children accounted for 90% of the 140,000 fatalities resulting from Cyclone Gorky.[8]

In some societies, survival skills—such as swimming or tree climbing—have only been taught to males, further disadvantaging women and girls when disaster strikes.[9]  In India, up to three times as many women as men died in the 2004 tsunami, while in Indonesia, casualties of women were up to four times the number of male casualties.[10] “While not all of this disparity is due to differences in physical skills, in cases where women had the ability to swim, the overall mortality rate was reduced by more than 60%.”[11]

Proportion of Death by Sex in Heaviest Tsunami Affected Areas

Source: Sex and Age Matter: Improving Humanitarian Response in Emergencies

The risk women face in crisis situations is further compounded by their marginalization in the response and recovery process. After natural disasters strike, pre-existing vulnerabilities and patterns of discrimination are exacerbated, making it difficult for women and girls to access relief. “Women face protection risks including unequal access to assistance, discrimination in aid provision, loss of documentation, and inequitable access to property restitution.”[12] There have been many instances of women and other vulnerable or marginalized groups missing out on disaster assistance, particularly when governments and relief agencies have implemented entitlement guidelines that give priority to property owners, bank-account holders, or perceived heads of households.[13] Eligibility requirements that register households based on their male heads or on the basis of physical damage and losses, such as loss of a home, disproportionally exclude low-income women and female headed households.[14] Women’s unequal access is only worsened by an insufficient presence of female team members on outreach and relief teams. Certain cultural norms, such as purdah, prevent women from going to distribution centers or standing in line to receive relief. Female survivors may also be unwilling or unable to freely discuss their needs with male members of relief teams or invite unrelated men into their homes, further inhibiting their access to relief.[15]

Given the breakdown in social structures that occurs post-crisis, women also face heightened risk of sexual and physical abuse. This is especially true in camps or other temporary shelter arrangements that lack adequate security or are poorly designed to meet the needs of women.[16] Since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, women and girls have been particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence in camps due to insufficient security and policing, and unsafe conditions such as “isolated bathrooms and showers, insufficient or nonexistent outdoor lighting, and insecure housing.”[17] Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, women in Internally Displaced Person camps in Aceh also faced an increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence, attributed to poor camp design, including the placement and design of latrines.[18] There were also reports of sexual exploitation and trafficking of girls and young women in the camps.[19] A 2010 UN Women assessment conducted after the flooding in Pakistan found that women reported insufficient arrangements for washing and hygiene services for menstruating girls and women. A separate survey found that 66% of respondents reported “no safe place or privacy” as the most important concern that women were facing.[20] Women also reported cases of sexual harassment in IDP camps, particularly in areas where there were mixed groups of people from different tribes, families, and villages. Cramped and unsafe conditions did not allow women to maintain purdah and many reported feeling “exposed, vulnerable, and threatened by the presence of men who were strangers.”[21]

In the aftermath of crises, the active participation of all members of society—including women—is crucial for restoring order, rebuilding communities, and ensuring resilience in the face of new threats. Disasters affect women and men differently, and recent research has revealed that disasters often reinforce, perpetuate, and increase gender inequality, making already-bad situations even worse for women.[22] But inequality and discrimination do not only accentuate women’s vulnerability during disasters—they also waste women’s potential as instruments of post-disaster recovery. Women’s roles in securing water, food, and shelter during and after international disasters have been well documented. Yet women are still marginalized in decision making on disaster issues, even though they often hold vital societal knowledge and vast untapped capacity for reducing community risk.[23] Despite the potential of women to positively influence communities after disasters, “[t]he contributions that women can offer to risk reduction and crisis response around the world are often overlooked and female leadership in building community resilience to disasters is frequently disregarded.”[24]Adopting a gender-integrated approach to humanitarian action is essential for ensuring an adequate response that accounts for the differing vulnerabilities, needs, and capacities of men and women.


More on what should be included in a gender-integrated approach - and how to better integrate women into disaster and crisis response - in future posts...

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[1] Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Gender Mainstreaming in Emergency Management: Opportunities for Building Community Resilience in Canada.” Public Health Agency of Canada. (February 2008).

[2] Ferris, Elizabeth, Daniel Petz and Chareen Stark. “Disaster Risk Management: A Gender-Sensitive Approach is a Smart Approach,” in The Year of Recurring Disasters: A Review of Natural Disasters in 2012. Brookings Institution. (March 2013).  Available at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2013/03/natural%20disasters%20review/Brookings_Review_Natural_Disasters_2012.pdf

[3] UNDP. “Gender and Disasters.” (October 2010). Available at: www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/crisis% 20prevention/disaster/7Disaster%20Risk%20Reduction%20-%20Gender.pdf.

[4] Oxfam Programme Insights. “Gender Sensitive Response and Recovery: An Overview.” (October 2012). Available at: http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/gender-sensitive-response-and-recovery-an-overview-247191

[5] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. A Practical Guide to Gender-Sensitive Approaches for Disaster Management. (2010). Available at: http://www.ifrc.org/PageFiles/96532/A%20Guide%20for%20Gender-sensitive%20approach%20to%20DM.pdf/

[6] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[7] Ariuabandu, Madhavi Malalgoda. “Sex, Gender, and Gender Relations in Disasters” in Elaine Enarson and P.G. Dhar Chakrabarti, Women, Gender, and Disaster: Global Issues and Initiatives. (2009).

[8] Ferris, Elizabeth, Daniel Petz and Chareen Stark. (March 2013).

[9] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[10] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[11] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[12] Ferris, Elizabeth, Daniel Petz and Chareen Stark. (March 2013).

[13] Yonder, Ayse, Sengul Akcar, and Prema Gopalan. “Women’s Participation in Disaster Relief and Recovery.” The Population Council. (November 2005).

[14] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[15] World Bank Institute. “Gender Aspects of Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction: Guidelines for Gender Sensitive Crisis Response and Reconstruction Planning.” World Banks Institute, National Disaster Risk Management Program. Available at: http://worldbank.mrooms.net/file.php/349/Readings/Reading6-ILO-Guideline-for-Gender-Sensitive-Crises-Response.pdf

[16] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2010).

[17] Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. “Haiti: Sexual violence against women, including domestic sexual violence; in particular, prevalence within and outside of camps for the internally displaced.” (June 8, 2012). Available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4feaceb62.html

[18] Ferris, Elizabeth, Daniel Petz and Chareen Stark. (March 2013).

[19] Ferris, Elizabeth, Daniel Petz and Chareen Stark. (March 2013).

[20] Shaheen, Ashraf Shah. “Gender and building homes in disaster in Sindh, Pakistan.” Gender & Development, 20:2, (2012) 249-264.

[21] Shaheen Ashraf Shah. (2012).

[22] UNISDR, UNDP, and ISDR. Making Disaster Risk Reduction Gender-Sensitive: Policy and Practical Guidelines. (June 2009), pg iv. Available at: http://www.preventionweb.net/files/9922_MakingDisasterRiskReductionGenderSe.pdf.

[23] Enarson, Elaine and P.G. Dhar Chakrabarti. Women, Gender, and Disaster: Global Issues and Initiatives. (2009) pg. xiv.

[24]UNISDR, UNDP, and ISDR. (June 2009).