Symposium on "DRR & CCA for a Gender Sensitive Frontier"
Date:
The need and importance for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction to address the inequalities in the households and the community to lessen women’s vulnerability to climate change was reaffirmed in the symposium UN Women Bangladesh organized. More than 70 experts and practitioners from government, United Nations Agencies, International and national non-governmental organization (INGOs), research institutions, and development partners, met in the capital on 21st April for a symposium on “DRR & CCA for a Gender Sensitive Frontier”. The purpose was to generate discussion and churn out ideas, views and opinions from the experts and practitioners, on gender sensitive DRR/CCA efforts. The discussion was kicked started by the findings of the two research reports on the baseline of the socio economic conditions of women in three eco-zones of Bangladesh, and livelihood assessment of women in those climate vulnerable areas of Bangladesh; produced by BCAS under the project of UN Women: ‘Reducing Vulnerability of Women Affected by Climate Change through Livelihood Options’, supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
Mr. Tariq-Ul-Islam, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs was present as the chief guest while Mr. Arne Haug, Deputy Head of Mission, The Royal Norwegian Embassy, Dhaka was the special guest. Eminent expert Professor Ainun Nishat of BRAC University, Dr. Ahsan Uddin Ahmed of the Centre for Global Change and Mahbub Hossain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest from the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust spoke as panel discussants. Ms. Christine Hunter, UN Women Representative chaired and moderated the discussions. Mr. Golam Rabbani from BCAS and Ms. Dilruba Haider from UN Women presented the key findings from the two research reports.
Women’s burden during and after disasters, their subordinate status in the society, and lack of participation in pre-disaster planning, climate change adaptation, disaster response and recovery initiatives were the heart of the discussions. Panel discussants emphasized on women’s participation in decision-making, their accessibility to economic activities and capacity development.
The Discussants and participants thanked UN Women, RNE, and BCAS for carrying out the research works, since there is not a lot of researches done in this field. Participants from different communities said that the research report would assist them in developing the upcoming programme on climate change adaptation.
The Secretary reiterated the importance of mainstreaming gender issues in planning and practices and highlighted works that are being implemented by his ministry to minimize the vulnerability of most vulnerable groups.
Ms. Hunter, the Chair concluded with the hope that the findings from the research and the discussion at the symposium would bring home the importance of addressing gender concerns and inclusion of women’s perspectives into all key national instruments for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
