Empowering women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk

Empowering women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk

This high-level side event marked World Meteorological Day 2022, and its theme of Early Warning and Early Action, in the context of the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and its theme of Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.

Early warning systems save lives. Over the past 50 years, (1970-2019), a weather, climate or water-related disaster has occurred on average every day – killing 115 people and causing US$ 202 million in losses daily. The number of recorded disasters increased by a factor of five over that 50-year period, driven by human-induced climate change, more extreme weather events and improved reporting. But thanks to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of deaths decreased almost three-fold over the same period.

But weather and climate-related disasters are not gender-neutral. Women are often placed at greater risk through a lack of timely and relevant information about imminent hazards and a lack of equal access to technology. Moreover, women’s voices are often absent from the design and decision-making around early warning systems, and as a result, do not have their needs adequately met.

Recent studies by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) showed that women-led early warning initiatives provide valuable insights for strengthening people-centered, inclusive, accessible, effective and sustainable early warning systems. Actions such as connecting more effectively with communities, facilitating community-based data collection, mainstreaming women-led warning programmes and delivering effective early warning messages were all found to be vital for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women in the context of climate disasters. WMO and UNDRR are now reviewing gender-responsive implementation of Target G of the Sendai Framework, as part of a wide range of activities aiming to address gender inequality in early warning systems and disaster risk.

“Well-designed disaster risk reduction and climate change initiatives that provide for the full and effective participation of women can advance substantive gender equality and the empowerment of women, while ensuring that sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change objectives are achieved.”          -   Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Recommendation 37

This short, high-level side event marked World Meteorological Day 2022, and its theme of Early Warning and Early Action; Hydrometeorological and climate information for Disaster Risk Reduction, in the context of the ongoing sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), and its theme of Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. This event explored lessons learnt to date and opportunities for the future to achieve the empowerment of women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk.

PROGRAMME

High-level Side Event: Empowering women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk

Wednesday, 23 March (12:00-13:15 ET)

 

 

Moderator: Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief, Risk Knowledge Branch, UNDRR 

 

High-Level Opening 

 

Setting the Stage – Short Presentations of Research Findings

  • Dr Virginie Le Masson, Co-director of the Centre for Gender and Disaster at University College London presentation on Gender, Climate change and Disasters – (Dr Le Masson Presentation)
  • Sarah Brown, Practical Action on Gender Transformative Early Warning Systems presentation on Gender and Early Warnings and Early Action (Sarah Brown Presentation)
 

Experiences from the National and Community Level

  • Mr. Ahmadul Haque, Director of Bangladesh’s Cyclone Preparedness Programme, Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief (Country perspective)
  • H.E. Miia Rainne, Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations in New York (Donor country perspective)
  • Dr Virginia Clerveaux, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the National Security Secretariat, Turks and Caicos Islands Government (Country perspective) (Dr Clerveaux Presentation)
 

United Nations Perspective

  • Selwin Hart, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Climate Action Team
 

How can community-based initiatives support these efforts?

  • Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Technical Advisor of the Shifting Power Coalition in the Pacific
  • Stella Stephen, DARAJA Inclusive City-Community Forecasting and Early Warning Service Partnership in Tanzania
  • Dr Asha Mohammed, Secretary-General of the Kenya Red Cross

Empowering women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk