Transcript Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Dr Sithabiso Gandure, The Wahenga Institute
Multiparty Women’s Caucus Capacity Development Workshop
Gender and Climate Change
Cape Town, 19 October 2011
Outline of Presentation
• Disasters (Incidences and trends)
– Global
– South Africa
• Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR),
Climate change (CC) and Gender –
What are the linkages?
• Impacts of Disasters particularly
from CC
• Interventions and responses
– Adopting a Gender Approach to CC
and DRR
– National Platforms for DRR
• Concluding remarks
Natural Disasters: Global incidences & trends
Malawi drought February 2002
500 people killed
India drought July 2002
300,000,000
people affected
South Africa drought January
2004
15, 000, 000
people affected
Haiti earthquake January 2010
222,570 people
killed
Worst drought in Somalia since
1991/92 Japan tsunami March 2011
3.7 million
people in crisis
28,050 people
killed
Trends of World Natural Disasters (1975-2009)
EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, www.em-dat.net
Disaster occurrence, 5-year period (1975-2009)
EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, www.em-dat.net
Impacts of natural disasters by region (2009)
EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, www.em-dat.net
What is the outlook for South Africa?
KZN Hard Hit by Floods (Jan 7 2011)
Limpopo families count losses
after storm (Dec 18 2010)
South Africa can expect more
natural disasters – 26 Sept 2011
(Long Term Mitigation Study (LTMS)
The Government should not
negotiate for South Africans but
with them.......The voices of the
poor, underdeveloped, women,
youth must be heard (Minister Edna
Molelwa, Water & Environmental Affairs)
Natural Disasters in South Africa
(1992 to 2011)
Type of natural
disaster
Drought
Extreme temp(cold
wave)
Flood
Landslide
Local storm
Wildfire
Number of Number Total people
Events
killed
affected
2
15,300,000
2
15
1
12
1
52
246
34
113
34
131,690
131,909
25
Source: "EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database
www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium"
Damage
(000 US$)
-
390,424
219,041
430000
What is Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)?
 ‘Disaster risk reduction’ describes policies and practices to
minimise (with a view to longer-term prevention) disaster
losses. These involve interventions in:
 Mitigation: reducing the frequency, scale, intensity and impact
of hazards.
 Preparedness: strengthening capacity of communities to
respond to & recover from hazards, & of government,
implementing partners to provide effective response.
 Advocacy: favourably influencing the social, political, economic
and environmental issues that contribute to the causes and
magnitude of impact of hazards.
A natural hazard does not in itself cause a
disaster.......
 A disaster results when a hazard impacts on a vulnerable
exposed and ill prepared community.
 Weather related hazards are becoming more frequent due to
climate change killing more people overtime and costing more.
 According to IPCC reports, one of the anticipated effects of
climate change is the increase in both frequency and intensity
of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, and
droughts.
What determines level of impact and vulnerability?
 The intensity and scale of a hazard and the vulnerability
of individuals and communities determines the magnitude of
impact
 The degree of vulnerability is defined by:
 social variables such as gender, age, health status,
economic status, ethnicity etc.
 Existing socio-economic and political conditions mean
that disasters can lead to different outcomes
 Research reveals that disasters reinforce, perpetuate and
increase gender inequality.
• Successful DRR must occur before
a disaster strikes
• Need to shift focus away from
response to disaster prevention
and preparedness activities
• Disasters constrain national efforts
to mitigating the impacts of CC due
to
• Limitations in Early Warning Systems,
• Limitations in institutional capacities in
dealing with and mitigating disasters
• Hence, in general DRR tends to be
more reactive
Disaster Risk Reduction,
Climate Change, Gender
• DRR and CC adaptation are cross-cutting
development issues
• Share the same goals: reduce vulnerability,
increase resilience and achieve sustainable
development
• Need to address root causes of
vulnerability that include human, economic,
social, environmental and physical factors
in a gender sensitive way
The rationale for gender concerns
 Gender equality is a generic principle across all
developmental areas including CC and DRR.
 The rationale for gender equality has at least three
dimensions:
 First, it is a rights issue and the principle is enshrined in
international and regional protocols and national policies.
 Second, it is an economic & environmental issue in that gender
inequality undermines development potential.
 Third, it is a social issue in that women perform a vital and
unique role in household and community structures which is
under-recognized and under-valued.
The rationale for gender concerns
 Effectively mainstreaming gender in DRR and CC like in other
sectors faces significant challenges because
 it requires shifting cultural norms,
 of an absence of entitlement legislation and a reluctance to enforce it
where it does exist or monitor implementation
 of the prevailing gender balance within national executives and
legislatives.
 The net result, is that international, regional & national policies
have not been translated into tangible public actions.
Examples of Gendered Impacts of CC related natural
disasters
Bangladesh
cyclone &
flood of
1991,
Among women aged 20-44, the death rate was 71 per
1000, compared to 15 per 1000 for men
Warning information transmitted between men in
public spaces, but rarely to the family
Women were not allowed to leave the houses without
a male relative
IUCN/WEDO
, 2007 report
Women and children are 14 times more likely to die
than men during disasters
Examples of Gendered Impacts of CC related
natural disasters
Research
by Davies
et al, 2005
Gender inequalities exacerbated in the
aftermath of disasters. Increase in workload
may force many girls to drop out of school
Women and girls are more likely to become
victims of domestic and sexual violence after a
disaster particularly when families have been
displaced and are living in overcrowded
emergency or transitional housing where they
lack privacy
Why the gender differences?
 An analysis of 141 countries showed that gender differences in
deaths from natural disasters are directly linked to women’s
economic and social rights.
 When women’s rights are not protected, more women than men
will die from disasters.
 The study also found the opposite to be true: in societies where
women and men enjoy equal rights, disasters kill the same
number of women and men
(London School of Economics)
DRR as a mitigation strategy against
climate change
• Making gender-sensitive DRR a tool for
climate change adaptation in-order to
enhance resilience to disasters and climate
change
• The existing methods and tools of disaster
risk reduction are useful for adaptation to
climate change
– Risk and vulnerability assessments approaches
(community involvement )
– Early warning
– Hyogo Framework for Action
– Guidelines on national platforms for disaster risk
reduction
Community involvement in risk assessment
Tackling DRR
 The cornerstone of DRR: The Hyogo Framework for Action
2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and
Communities to Disasters, adopted by 168 Governments in
January 2005: ensures that disaster risk reduction is a
national and a local priority.
 SADC Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Plan (2006-2010)
 South Africa Disaster Management Act 57,2002 –Set the
National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC)
Role of National DRR platforms
 A national platform for DRR is a mechanism to address
disaster risk reduction issues through a coordinated,
participatory and interactive process.
 It comprises representatives from major line ministries, UN
Agencies, civil society organisations including NGOs, the
private sector and academic institutions
 South Africa has the National Disaster Management
Advisory Forum (NDMAF) that meets every quarter, chaired
by the head of NDMC
Adopting a Gender Sensitive Approach to CC and DDR
• The Gender Approach should be integrated in the entire
programming process.
• Disaggregate all data by gender to allow for gender sensitive
strategies.
• Gender Analysis
• Preparation & prevention: both men and women should be involved in
various aspects such as emergency plans, capacity training etc
• Response: psycho-social counseling & support to men and women should
be provided per specific needs
• Recovery: interventions should address the needs of both men and women
Concluding remarks
 Gender equality in DRR & CC
does not mean addressing
women’s issues – it means
addressing concerns of both
men and women
 However, gender inequality is a
root cause of women’s
vulnerability to disasters & CC.
 Gender shapes vulnerability to
as well as capacity to cope with
disasters.
 Women are active and are in
the fore front in terms of
adaption to CC although often
regarded as helpless victims.
Thank you