Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHAWG) Newsletter Issue 1 | Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh has committed through global and regional platforms, such as the World Humanitarian Summit, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to better integrate gender equality into DRR, humanitarian and development programmes. In achieving the desired commitments, it’s imperative that we address the different needs, participation and voices of women, men, boys, girls and the gender diverse community across the full cycle of risk reduction. With the endorsement of the Department of Women Affairs and the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) in Bangladesh, the inter-cluster Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHAWG) was established in February 2017 to ensure the effective mainstreaming of gender equality in humanitarian action.

The aim is to support the works of each thematic cluster and inter-cluster working group to realize gender responsive programming while ensuring that the overall disaster response and preparedness efforts of the country is addressing the gendered needs of the population. The group consists of focal points of various thematic clusters, HCTT working groups and other organizations committed to gender equity and humanitarian action.