South Asia Peer Learning Regional Consultation on Disaster Preparedness for an Effective Response for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Disasters in South Asia impact men and women in different ways. The mortality rates are unequal and the scale and nature of economic and social losses are not the same for women and men. To reduce disaster risk, it is therefore essential to include gender analysis and considerations in all disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities. The event was organized in close coordination with UNDP and Women Friendly Disaster Management Core Group in Nepal, with support from the Government of Denmark. The consultation took place in Kathmandu from November 28-30, 2016and was attended by 54 delegates from seven SAARC countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The peer learning consultation provided an opportunity for open sharing of experiences and served as a learning platform for gender-responsive DRR among South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. The consultation was the first attempt to bring together Government national women’s machineries and national disaster management authorities (NDMAs), as well as civil society actors, working on gender-responsive DRR. The consultation was designed to build an inter-country learning platform to take forward international and regional processes on gender-responsive DRR. Leading up to the adoption of the Sendai Framework, UN Women along with civil society organizations (CSOs) and other UN entities, provided technical support to member states and the secretariat in integrating gender equality in the framework.