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Henia Dakkak
UNFPA
New York
Phone: +1 212 297 5069
dakkak@unfpa.org

Introduction

Gender equality in humanitarian action is simply about good programming. It is about effectively reaching all segments of the affected population.

Women girls, boys and men play different roles within the family and community, and have different levels of access to power and resources. No wonder then, that we are differently affected by, and find different ways of coping with, emergency. Humanitarian actors must therefore design programmes to meet the needs of young and old, male and female, and ensure that all have safe and equal access to humanitarian assistance. To achieve this, all groups must be consulted and actively participate in needs assessments and decision-making processes.

Understanding gender differences, inequalities, and capacities and responding to them, improves the effectiveness of our humanitarian actions. The IASC Sub-Working group on Gender and Humanitarian Actions works to support the mainstreaming of gender equality programming in humanitarian action. On this page you will find resources to guide the design of more effective humanitarian response.

IASC Policy Statement on Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action

In May 2008, the IASC adopted a revised policy statement on gender in humanitarian action. Reiterating commitments made in its 1999 Policy Statement and reflecting subsequent developments in gender equality policies of humanitarian actors working within the IASC system, it presents the responsibilities of international humanitarian actors at all levels to make our collective humanitarian response more effective, through designing services according to the needs and capacities of all in an affected population. As such, it also sets the stage for increased accountability.

The Sub Working Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action

The Gender SWG meets by teleconference every four weeks (first Wednesday of the month). Its work is structured around an annual workplan.
The work of the SWG focuses on the implementation of a 5 point strategy which is reviewed yearly and revised as needed. The revised “5 ways” for 2008 is to:

Implement standards for gender equality and gender-based violence (GBV) programming contained in guidance documents produced by the SWG.
Build capacity of humanitarian actors on gender issues including gender-based violence (GBV) and deploy experts on gender and GBV in emergencies.
Get the right data by encouraging the collection and use of sex and age disaggregated data for decision-making.
Build partnerships with NGOs for increased and more consistent gender equality programming in crises.
Strengthen accountability systems on gender and GBV in humanitarian action.

SWG co-chairs: WHO & UNFPA
SWG members: CARE, CCF, FAO, INEE, ICRC, IFRC, IMC, IOM, IRC, NRC, OCHA, OHCHR, Office RSG/IDPs, OXFAM, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNISDR, WFP, WHO, and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

What's New

Links to over 100 resources on gender and humanitarian action! Now updated with links to resources on gender and disaster risk reduction. See here.

A complete toolkit for training in gender equality and GBV programming has been published. Click here to see agenda and session documents.

The IASC Gender Handbook is now available in Chinese. Click here for download.

GenCap

The IASC Gender Standby Capacity (Gencap) project deploys senior gender experts to to build capacity of humanitarian actors at country level to mainstream gender equality programming, including prevention and response to gender-based violence, in all sectors of humanitarian response. Enter the GenCap page here