Title: Mainstreaming Gender into Caribbean DRM Policy and Planning
1Mainstreaming Gender into Caribbean DRM Policy
and Planning
- Dr. Marlene Attzs
- Department of Economics
- UWI, St. Augustine
2Content of Presentation
- Economic impact of disasters
- Gender and Gender mainstreaming
- Stages of Comprehensive DRM
- The poor suffer the most vulnerable communities
and disasters - Case of Grenada pre post Hurricane Ivan
- Recommendations for mainstreaming Gender into
Caribbean DRM
3Impacts of Disasters
- Approximately 2.3million CARICOM citizens
affected by natural disasters during 1990 to
2006. - 42 of those impacted were affected by floods,
- windstorms affected 31 of the affected
- drought severely impacted another 27.
- Populations of Guyana and Jamaica were most
affected (42 each) by natural disasters during
the period under consideration.
4Persons Affected by type of disaster 1990 2006
5What is Gender and Gender Mainstreaming
- Gender the social roles and relations between
men and women, determined, inter alia, by the
responsibilities assumed by both sexes given
their culture and socialization - Gender mainstreaming process of assessing the
implications for women and men of any planned
action, including legislation, policies or
programmes, in any area and at all levels (UN
ECOSOC)
6Climate change projections
- The main predicted impacts from Climate Change to
SIDS are - Increases in flooding in some countries from
heavier rainfall and sea level rise - Susceptibility to droughts given changes in water
tables - Likelihood of more intense and frequent tropical
cyclones
7Women and Disasters
- women and children are at greater risk to
natural disasters than men, especially in
developing countries. - women and children comprise a larger portion of
the poor in developing countries, even in many
developed countries. As a consequence of this,
women and children have less capacity to take
effective preventive actions and to recover from
disasters once they occur
8Case Study of Grenada 1999 study
- 32.1 of all individuals in Grenada were poor -
their monthly expenditure was less than the cost
of meeting their minimal food and other basic
requirements of an estimated (EC3,262). - The poorest individuals comprised almost 29 of
the total number of households in the country. - At the same time, 13 of all individuals in the
country were found to be extremely poor or
indigent.
9Case Study of Grenada 1999 study
- 52 of poor households were female headed and 48
percent were male headed. - In terms of migration, 48 are male and 38
female. Only in 14 of cases do both spouses
migrate together.
10Case Study of Grenada 1999 study
- Female-headed households have an average size of
4.5 persons. - More than half of female heads of household
(58.35) have never married. - Female headed households in Grenada have little
education. Approximately 75 of female household
heads had only primary education or less
(compared with 70 of male household heads). - A high proportion of female-headed households are
reportedly functionally illiterate
11Two vulnerable groups in Grenada
- Young female household heads with several young
children (there are an average of four births per
woman), who may have intermittent partners and
support and - Older female heads of households with grown
children, who will be less likely to have male
help, but may receive remittances if older
children have migrated.
12Results of Gender AnalysisPost- Ivan
- Poor female heads of households heavy reliance on
State for support (health, sanitation etc) felt
the impact of this inadequacy more than others - Women employed in agriculture and tourism
disadvantaged as a result of Hurricane Ivan. - nutmeg industry severely impacted
- low economic mobility caused by their lack of
skills and level of education
13Results of Gender AnalysisPost- Ivan
- Role of women as glue than bonds society
reinforced - men abandoned homes to re-build
- women took care of children (theirs and their
neighbours), assumed roles of psychologists,
nurses etc
14How, Why when to mainstream
- Mainstreaming gender into DRM related to the MDGs
- Regional initiatives at mainstreaming
- CDERA (2005) CIDA/CDERA commitment when CDERA
assumed responsibility for Caribbean Hazard
Mitigation Capacity Building Programme (CHAMP)
15How, Why when to mainstream
- Mainstream Gender at all stages of DRM
- Risk identification should be such that gender
differences and disparities can be diagnosed in a
timely, proactive manner. - Risk Mitigation Public Education and awareness
programmes should be structured to cater to the
literacy levels and socio-economic circumstances
of both men and women. - Disaster Preparedness Women are most effective at
mobilizing the community to respond to disasters.
16How, Why when to mainstream
- Mainstream Gender at all stages of DRM
- Disaster Recover Efforts need to be gender
sensitive. Emergency relief workers firemen,
police, army, care givers need to be gender
sensitized in terms of how they treat with
disaster survivors. - Rehabilitation and Reconstruction post hurricane
Mitch - women were seen building houses, digging
wells and ditches, hauling water and building
shelters because these were their priorities and
they were being overlooked in the relief efforts.
17How, Why when to mainstream
- Mainstream Gender at all stages of DRM
- DRM and adaptation to climate change are
flipsides of the same coin. Policies intended to
address comprehensive DRM c(sh)ould also address
Adaptation to CC thus yielding multiple
dividends.
18Final Reflections the hallmark of truly
sustainable development
- Katrina a highly gendered social event.
- Katrina did not disrupt a social order in which
women and men were equally vulnerable any more
than it hit suburbanites with cars and the
central city poor the same. - Advocating for gender equality in reconstruction
is not to press a political agenda or deny our
common humanity in crisis but to serve both the
women and the men... This is what the future
must look like or all the talk about building
back better to increase resilience to future
disasters is just talk and the next hurricane
will find the poor poorer and women less able
than today to anticipate, prepare for, survive,
cope with and recover from the next storm. - It is the hallmark of truly sustainable
development!