Disasters don’t discriminate, but people do. Existing socio-economic conditions mean that disasters can lead to different outcomes even for demographically similar communities - but inevitably the most vulnerable groups suffer more than others. Research reveals that disasters reinforce, perpetuate and increase gender inequality, making bad situations worse for women. Meanwhile, the potential contributions that women can offer to the disaster risk reduction imperative around the world are often overlooked and female leadership in building community resilience to disasters is frequently disregarded.

IUCN, UNDP and UNISDR have been working jointly to integrate gender issues into disaster risk reduction across the board. For IUCN, the growing impact of climate change-related disasters on women is of immense concern. Meanwhile, UNDP’s Eight Point Agenda for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Crisis Prevention and Recovery, emphasizes the need to promote gender equality in disaster risk reduction initiatives and to support women and men to build back better. This joint publication is a result of a UNISDR-led process supporting implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (HFA).