Gender dimensions in disaster management: a guide for South Asia
This is the first book to look at gender issues in disasters in the context of South Asia, where disasters have a crucial impact on the development process. It shows how exploring the specific capacities and vulnerabilities of men and women in disaster situations, and taking account of them, will improve the chance of success in development projects. The book also includes two sets of guidelines, for policy makers and practitioners, to help them address these issues in planning and implementing development and disaster management programs. The book places the issue of gender in the context of development, and extends the discussion to show how gender and development concerns are reflected in the context of disasters.
This Guide captures the experiences of ITDG, and the members of the Duryog Nivaran network, as they interacted closely with the communities living in situations of various natural hazards in South Asia during the last few years. While the major part of the evidence was generated through the case studies carried out in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka under the South Asia regional programme, Livelihood Options for Disaster Risk Reduction in South Asia, the book also draws on other documented evidence on the subject. It presents real-life examples, and case studies, which depict the subtle gender concerns and gender-based social dynamics prevalent in managing disasters, protecting daily-livelihoods, and in disaster/crisis situations.