Handout 3.

1
Case study and exercise:
Gender-based violence in
earthquake response

Imagine that you are a manager of an NGO responding to an earthquake which has killed 200,000 people and
affected over 3 million nationally, of which 60 per cent are women. In some places, reports show that twice as
many women aged 18 to 60 years died than men, but you do not know why. The earthquake flattened 500,000
housing units and damaged 300,000 significantly. It destroyed two-thirds of the government-run health
facilities.
You are in the third month of the response in an area where your organization is the only operational INGO.
Initially the emergency response focused on restoring water points, providing safe drinking water, and
ensuring safe excreta disposal. Now it has moved into a phase of developing a livelihoods programme,
including the provision of cash, seeds, tools, and livestock to support recovery. During the community
assessments, some of your staff members heard accounts of and observed disturbing levels of verbal and
physical abuse of women by their husbands, and trafficking of teenage girls.
The public health engineer on your team is adamant that your organization should develop a component of
the programme specifically aimed at ending violence against women. He previously worked in another part of
the world where your organization worked with partners to support women who experienced rape and sexual
assault, and argues that your organization has a responsibility, as part of the gender equality approach, to
address violence against women. The public health promoter on your team, on the other hand, feels strongly
that your organization does not have the mandate, competencies, or the resources to intervene in this area
and that safe programming is sufficient.
1. As programme manager, on what criteria would you base a decision to introduce a component to end
violence against women as part of the emergency programme?
2. Where would you get information and support to help you make this decision?
3. If you were to go ahead and address issues of violence against women directly, what steps would you take?
4. If you choose not to address violence against women directly in your programme, what measures can you
put in place within the public health engineering, public health promotion, and emergency food security and
livelihoods programmes to ensure that the emergency response does not put women at further risk of different
forms of violence?
5. What should you NOT do when addressing violence against women in your programmes?
6. If you do not develop a stand-alone programme to end violence against women, what indicators would you
use, by sector, to measure whether safe programming has contributed to reducing violence against women in
the emergency-affected area?
7. Write your answers on a flipchart and share this with the large group through a presentation.

www.oxfam.org.uk/genderdrrpack 1
 2
Functions and Emergency preparedness Minimum prevention and Comprehensive prevention
Focusing on prevention of, and response to, sexual violence in emergencies

sector response and response

(to be conducted even in the (Stabilized phase)
midst of emergency)
1 Coordination Determine coordination 1.1 Establish coordination Continue fundraising
mechanisms and responsibilities mechanisms and orient
partners Transfer coordination to local
Identify and list partners and counterpart
GBV focal points 1.2 Advocate and raise funds
Integrate comprehensive
1.3 Ensure Sphere standards
IASC guidelines for gender-based

Promote human rights and best GBV activities into national

practices as central components are disseminated and adhered programmes
violence in humanitarian settings

to preparedness planning and to

project development Strengthen networks
Advocate for GBV prevention Enhance information sharing
and response at all stages of Build (human) capacity
humanitarian action
Include governments and non-
Integrate GBV programming state entities in coordination
into preparedness and
contingency plans mechanisms
Coordinate GBV training Engage community in GBV
prevention and response
Include GBV activities in inter-
agency strategies and appeals
Identify and mobilize resources
2 Assessment Review existing data on nature, 2.1 Conduct coordinated rapid Maintain a comprehensive
and monitoring scope, magnitude of GBV situation analysis confidential database
Conduct capacity and situation
2.2 Monitor and evaluate Conduct a comprehensive

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analysis and identify good
activities situation analysis
Handout 3.2

practices
Develop strategies, indicators, Monitor and evaluate GBV
and tools for monitoring and programmes, gender-balanced
evaluation hiring, application of Code of
Conduct
Review data on prevention
measures, incidence, policies and
instruments, judicial response,
social support structures
Assess and use data to
improve activities
 3
3 Protection Review national laws, policies, 3.1 Assess security and define Expand prevention of, and
(legal, social, and enforcement realities on protection strategy response to, GBV
and physical) protection from GBV
3.2 Provide security in Provide technical assistance
Identify priorities and develop accordance with needs to judicial and criminal justice
strategies for security and systems for reforms and
prevention of violence 3.3 Advocate for effective implementation of laws
implementation of and in accordance with international
Encourage ratification, full compliance with international standards
compliance, and effective instruments
implementation of international Strengthen national capacity
instruments to monitor, and seek redress
for, violations of human rights/
Promote human rights, international humanitarian law
international humanitarian law,
and good practices Encourage ratification of
international instruments, and
Develop mechanisms to advocate for full compliance
monitor, report, and seek and effective implementation
redress for GBV and other
human rights violations Promote human rights, IHL, and
good practices
Train all staff on international
standards Ensure that GBV is addressed
by accountability mechanisms
Ensure that programmes for
DDRR include women and
children affiliated with warring
factions
Ensure that programmes for
reintegration and rehabilitation
include survivors/ victims of
GBV and children born of rape

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Provide training to relevant
sectors including security
forces, judges and lawyers,
health practitioners, and service
providers
Source: IASC (2005)
www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/
 4
4 Human Ensure SG’s Bulletin is 4.1 Recruit staff in a manner Monitor effectiveness of
resources distributed to all staff and that will discourage SEA complaint mechanisms and
partners and train accordingly institute changes where
4.2 Disseminate and inform all necessary
Train staff on gender equality partners on codes of conduct
issues, GBV and guiding Institutionalize training on
principles, and international legal 4.3 Implement confidential SEA for all staff, including
standards complaints mechanisms peacekeepers
Develop a complaints 4.4 Implement SEA focal group
mechanism and investigations network
strategy
Minimize risk of sexual
exploitation and abuse (SEA)
of beneficiary community by
humanitarian workers and
peacekeepers
5 Water and Train staff and community 5.1 Implement safe water/ Conduct ongoing assessments
sanitation WATSAN committees on design sanitation programmes to determine gender-based
of water supply and sanitation issues related to the provision
facilities of water and sanitation
Ensure representation of
women in WATSAN committees
6 Food Train staff and community food 6.1 Implement safe food Monitor nutrition levels to
security and management committees on security and nutrition determine any gender-based
nutrition design of food distribution programmes issues related to food security
procedures and nutrition
Conduct contingency planning

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Preposition supplies
7 Shelter and Train staff and community 7.1 Implement safe site planning Conduct ongoing monitoring to
site planning, groups on shelter/site planning and shelter programmes determine any gender-based
and non-food and non-food distribution 7.2 Ensure that survivors/ issues related to shelter and
items procedures victims of sexual violence have site location and design
Ensure safety of planned sites safe shelter
and of sensitive locations within 7.3 Implement safe fuel
sites collection strategies
Plan provision of shelter facilities 7.4 Provide sanitary materials
Source: IASC (2005) for survivors/victims of GBV to women and girls
www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/
 5
8 Health and Map current services and 8.1 Ensure women’s access to Expand medical and
community practices basic health services psychological care for
services survivors/victims
Adapt/develop/disseminate 8.2 Provide sexual violence-
policies and protocols related health services Establish or improve protocols
for medico-legal evidence
Plan and stock medical and RH 8.3 Provide community-based collection
supplies psychological and social
support for survivors/victims Integrate GBV medical
Train staff in GBV health management into existing
care, counselling, referral health system structures,
mechanisms, and rights issues national policies, programmes,
and curricula
Include GBV programmes in
health and community service Conduct ongoing training and
contingency planning supportive supervision of health
staff
Conduct regular assessments
on quality of care
Support community-based
initiatives to support survivors/
victims and their children
Actively involve men in efforts
to prevent GBV
Target income generation
programmes to girls and women
9 Education Determine education options for 9.1 Ensure girls’ and boys’ Include GBV in life skills
boys and girls access to safe education training for teachers, girls, and
Identify and train teachers on boys in all educational settings
GBV

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Establish prevention and
response mechanisms to SEA
in educational settings
10 Information, Involve women, youth, and 10.1 Inform community about Provide IEC through different
education, men in developing culturally sexual violence and the channels
communication appropriate messages in local availability of services
Support women’s groups and
languages 10.2 Disseminate information men’s participation to strengthen
Ensure use of appropriate on International Humanitarian outreach programmes
means of communications for Law to arms bearers
awareness campaigns Implement behaviour change
communication programmes
Source: IASC (2005)
www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/
Handout 3.3
Livelihoods and advocacy in earthquake
response in Indonesia: tools for
planning, design and implementation

1. Case study: Livelihoods in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Background
On 2 September 2009 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake affected the West Java province of Indonesia. Just four
weeks later, a M7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Padang in West Sumatra. The West Java earthquake
was classified as a category three disaster, while the West Sumatra situation was a category two disaster.
In West Sumatra, Oxfam responded in the areas of emergency shelter and NFI distribution, water, sanitation,
and hygiene promotion (WASH), shelter materials and training, cash distribution, and advocacy including
specific gender-focused advocacy.
An evaluation was commissioned to provide independent, external analysis of the appropriateness,
effectiveness, and performance of the responses focusing on livelihoods and advocacy.

Livelihoods recovery
Objective: Current community coping strategies will be supported through the provision of recovery grants to
the communities most affected.
We reached the real beneficiaries, regardless of man or woman. We tried really hard to give benefit to
intended beneficiaries. We walked across the rivers and mountains to reach the people themselves. People
recognize this effort. Some women cried. This is the first time that an organization had searched for them at
the top of the mountains. The feeling of the people – not because of the money – people were treated like
the real beneficiaries. You could see in the faces of the people, giving them the freedom, the choice to use
for their own benefit. Interview, Oxfam staff member
Oxfam provided community recovery grants to 6,043 households (4,700 directly affected households and
1,343 host families) representing 28,261 people (13,736 male; 14,155 female) in 26 sub-villages of V Koto
Kampung Dalam sub-district. Household grants were distributed totaling IDR 7,842,360,000, and a further
IDR 931,500,000 given in community grants to support the construction of temporary shelters for vulnerable
populations, improve roads, build temporary bridges, remove debris in public areas, and dig drainage
systems.
Post-distribution monitoring of a randomly selected sample of 444 recipients of household grants found that
the cash was mostly used for shelter. However, Oxfam’s analysis is that there is a close link between shelter
recovery and livelihoods, and that cash grants protect productive assets from forced sale.
Although community grants were not a substantial feature of the strategy, evaluation interviews indicated that
where they were distributed, they were considered useful as much for building a spirit of working together,
not typically considered part of the culture in the same way as Gotong Royong (shared work) in Java, as for
the benefit to households involved and the community. Only one person (from a local partner) stated that
cash grants negatively impacted on people’s willingness to help themselves. There was no clear targeting of
communal cash grants. In future responses it might be worth linking these to areas where there are damages
to communal livelihoods assets.

www.oxfam.org.uk/genderdrrpack 6
 Cash transfers and gender: The cash transfer programme mainstreamed gender in the following ways.
• Collection of sex-disaggregated data, including detail of the sex of the household head (18.2% single
female headed, 2.5% single male headed, 77.5% couple) (Oxfam 2010);
• Distribution of cards for cash grants to women, although indications from village interviews were that this
didn’t necessarily result in women getting the grant. This was not specifically followed up in post-distribution
monitoring;
• Requiring (and achieving) women to hold the Treasurer position in groups established for the management
of community grants.
An issue that could have been explored more was the linking of community cash grants to initiatives
to overcome negative impacts on women’s livelihoods, such as rehabilitating women’s brick-making
enterprises, or repairing irrigation schemes in areas where women’s labour was affected disproportionately
to that of men’s.
Source: Evaluation of Oxfam Indonesia’s Response to Earthquakes in West Java and West Sumatra

Questions for group work

• Which gender issues were addressed by the programme?
• Which specific tools were used to address gender issues, and which activities, and practices focused on
gender?
• Considering the list provided, what other practical interventions might have been undertaken in this context
to strengthen gender equality and women’s rights?

2. Case study: Advocacy in West Sumatra, Indonesia

On 2 September 2009, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake affected the West Java province. Just four weeks
later, a M7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Padang in West Sumatra. The West Java earthquake
was classified a category three disaster, while the West Sumatra situation was a category two disaster.
An evaluation was commissioned to provide independent, external analysis of the appropriateness,
effectiveness, and performance of the two responses.
West Sumatra advocacy
As well as the advocacy carried out by sector teams, the West Sumatra response included a reasonable-
sized advocacy team and budget. Oxfam played an important role in linking national and international
NGOs, donors, and the government, and in facilitating information flows between these stakeholders.
Advocacy, primarily targeting the UN cluster system, was a strong feature of the response. This included:
• Engaging a shelter specialist to provide the advocacy team with analysis and advice relating to the
operation of the Shelter Cluster and recommendations for improvement and engagement with government
and other actors;
• Ongoing lobbying on collection of sex-disaggregated data, including recommending changes to monitoring
forms, coordination, construction techniques and materials, and inputting into the government strategy.
Gender advocacy
Gender advocacy focused on the establishment and operation of specific gender coordination mechanisms
and the collection of sex-disaggregated data. The proposed nature of government assistance and the
particular case of women-headed households are areas that could benefit from a stronger gender analysis
and development of a propositional advocacy agenda.

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 Oxfam invested a lot of time and effort promoting the establishment and operation of the Sub-Cluster
on women, the elderly, and disability within the Protection Cluster in the overall UNOCHA coordination
system. This was recognized as a key area of Oxfam influence (noted in interviews with OCHA Padang
and Jakarta, UNFPA, GENCAP, and WASH Cluster Lead). The strategic value of this recognition of women
as a vulnerable group is perhaps limited in terms of the wider objectives of gender equality, women’s
empowerment, and leadership, but it has provided a forum for discussion, and to some extent monitoring,
of women’s rights.
At the end of the Oxfam programme in West Sumatra, the longer-term viability of such a structure or of
another coordination mechanism is in question. Oxfam and UNFPA staff involved in encouraging the
Cluster’s function were finishing up; there was a commitment from the Governor to embed a specific gender
function in the five sector technical programme team (TPT) (as a sub-group of socio-economy), but there
were openly voiced misgivings about the capacity of the leadership of the Women’s Empowerment Division
(the group charged with the continuation of the work), to see this through. Unless at a high level, and with
dedicated resources, the effectiveness of such a nominal gender role is doubtful – but perhaps it will be
useful to at least have a foot in the door.
At the same time, Oxfam staff are reported to have been diligent in applying continuous pressure to the
WASH, Shelter, and Early Recovery Clusters to ensure consideration of differentiated male and female
needs and to lobby for the routine gathering of sex-disaggregated data.
Questions for group work:
• What gender issues were addressed by the programme?
• What specific activities, practices, and tools were used to address gender issues?
• Considering the list provided, what other areas and methods might have been used in this scenario to
strengthen gender equality and women’s rights in advocacy?

www.oxfam.org.uk/genderdrrpack 8
 9
Strategy Category IASC standards Reference in Oxfam Suggested minimum Benchmarks
(ADAPT and ACT GB policy standards (Verifiable indicators)
Collectively)
1. Analyse and report Programme 1. Collect, analyse 1-1. Baseline data on gender is
Gender mainstreaming

Using gender analysis to inform programme design

on gender differences. and report on gender established.(Baseline data recorded)

All new Programme differences using
2. Design services to Implementation 1-2. Data is collected and analysed by
sex- and age-
meet needs of all. Plans (PIPs) must sex, age, family composition, and other
disaggregated data
fully address issues relevant factors. (Assessment includes
7. Collect, analyse where possible.
how gender equality is promoted in

of gender, informing disaggregated data and gender analysis)

and report sex- and
the programme 2. Design culturally
age-disaggregated 1-3. The impacts of crisis on affected
objectives, projects,
data. appropriate sub-groups of men, women and other
monitoring indicators,
Proposed benchmarks to review

programmes based on vulnerable groups are identified.

and budget. All
a gender analysis that (Identification of gender-specific
projects arising from
address the needs of vulnerabilities in programme docs)
these PIPs must
the most vulnerable
effectively reflect 2-1. Programme is designed based on
and redress gender-
these requirements consultations with beneficiaries about
specific injustices.
in their objectives, their gender-specific needs. (Documented
activities, indicators, record of consultation process and findings
and budgets. in relation to gender issues)
2-2. Cultural, social, and religious beliefs/
post-disaster response

(OGB Gender Non-

Negotiables) practices/norms that present a barrier
to promoting gender equality in the
programme are identified. (Identification of
adverse environment for implementation
and strategies to overcome these)
2-3. Technical interventions are adjusted
to redress gender-specific injustices.
(Recognition of male-female inequalities
in analysis and an appropriate response in

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programme design)
Handout 3.4

2-4. Programme interventions that

promote gender equality are designed with
communities based on an understanding
of local context. (Sound programme
objectives and activities that take local
contexts into account)
2-5. Programme impact indicators are
gender sensitive. (Gender-sensitive impact
indicators are in programme docs)
 10
Strategy Category IASC standards Reference in Oxfam Suggested minimum Benchmarks
(ADAPT and ACT GB policy standards (Verifiable indicators)
Collectively)
3. Access for women, Humanitarian 3. Ensure equal 3-1. Both female and male beneficiaries of humanitarian
Targeted actions / gender mainstreaming

Ensuring participation, dignity, empowerment, and accountability

men, girls, and boys. access and assistance receive support equitably. (Proportion of females vs.
Women will be
4. Participate equally. participation by all direct beneficiaries is identified in reports)
actively involved in
specific gender groups
design and targeting 3-2. Women and men have equal opportunities for capacity
5. Train women and in humanitarian
of our humanitarian building, training, coaching, and employment. (Recorded
men equally. programme activities,
programme activities actions to ensure equal participation of women and men in all
including distributions,
8. Target actions (e.g. in determining activities and management)
training, and livelihood
based on a gender the type and amount
opportunities. 3-3. Women, men, girls, and boys have equal access
analysis. of food to be
distributed: preference 4. Actively promote to information at local level through use of differential
9. Coordinate is that household communication strategies by those providing humanitarian
women’s dignity and
actions with other food rations will be assistance. (Record of communication with wide range of local
empowerment in
humanitarian actors. distributed directly community and women’s groups in programme)
programme design
to female household and implementation. 3-4. Working groups or committees are formed with proportional
members. In income representation of women and men to raise awareness on
earning activities, 5. Establish effective
mechanisms to gender issues. (Terms of reference of planning committees)
women should always
be explicit targets). get feedback from 4-1. Women’s groups are represented in programme planning,
beneficiaries about designing, implementation, and ongoing management. (Record
Issues of dignity, programmes, of selecting gender-specific groups and establishing measures
for women and including gender to promote their equitable participation)
girls in particular, issues.
will be included in 4-2. Outreach is conducted to access networks that provide
all humanitarian specialized services to women and other vulnerable groups.
assessments, and (Partnerships with other organizations and networks that
culturally appropriate address needs of specific vulnerable groups)
strategy to enhance 4-3. Advocacy activities promoting women’s rights and equality
dignity (clothing between women and men are implemented. (Record of
needs, menstrual

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advocacy work for gender equality)
protection, bathing
facilities, etc.) will be 5-1. Mechanisms are established to get feedback from
implemented as soon beneficiaries about humanitarian programmes, including gender
as practically possible. issues.
(OGB Gender Non- (Evidence that programme was adapted as a result of a
Negotiables) complaints system being in place)
5-2. Mechanism is set up to measure equal participation,
monitor response to gender specific needs, and monitor
changes in women’s ability to make decisions and control
resources. (Local monitoring mechanism in programme for
equal participation and access)
 11
Strategy Category IASC standards Reference in Suggested minimum Benchmarks
(ADAPT and ACT Oxfam GB policy standards (Verifiable indicators)
Collectively)
6. Address GBV in Sexual Violence 6. Implement safe 6-1. Programme planning and implementation is “safe’’ to
Targeted actions

Addressing gender-based violence

sector programmes. programming in all minimize negative consequences on the beneficiaries at risk of
All programme
situations, and where or vulnerable to GBV. (Recorded security/protection concerns
staff working in
necessary implement and responses, record of following safe programme guidelines)
areas of conflict
specific activities to
must also 7-1. Types/nature of violence and security concerns for women,
prevent GBV and/
or support response men, girls and boys, including widespread systematic sexual
(1) have a basic
mechanisms. violence in conflict situations, are identified in humanitarian
understanding
assessments. (Assessments include information about GBV)
of widespread
7. Assess severity and
systematic sexual 7-2. Information is provided to enable people at risk to take
impact of Gender-
violence, Oxfam’s measures and make informed decisions to protect themselves.
Based Violence (GBV)
approach to (Record of special measures taken to inform beneficiaries of
and take appropriate
protection, and what risks)
action.
is expected of them
as outlined in this 8. Design and 8-1. Communities/committees/groups are linked with NGOs
policy; implement culturally working on violence and protection issues. (Partnerships built
appropriate GBV with local groups or organizations to work on preventing GBV)
(2) include
interventions in
information about
co-ordination with
widespread
other actors through
systematic
the inter-agency
sexual violence
working groups and/or
in humanitarian
clusters.
assessments,
as well as other
prevalent protection
threats;
(3) monitor the
severity and impact

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of sexual violence
on an ongoing basis,
protect beneficiaries
from sexual
exploitation and
abuse by our staff
and our partners;
and,
(4) take appropriate
action.
 12
Strategy Category IASC standards Reference in Oxfam GB Suggested minimum Benchmarks
(ADAPT and ACT policy standards (Verifiable indicators)
Collectively)
Not applicable Recruitment 9. Advance gender 9-1. Budget includes resources earmarked to address
Gender mainstreaming

Promoting gender equity through internal practices

As a requirement of equality through

recruitment, candidates internal practices,
will need to demonstrate including allocation of gender inequalities. (Budget allocation for gender
a willingness to treat men resources, selection mainstreaming activities)
and women with equality of partners, gender- 9-2. Teams reflect a proportional representation of
in all aspects of life and, balance among women and men. (Gender balance within humanitarian
where relevant, to address staff, and inclusion programmes)
inequalities between men of gender objectives
and women within their area in performance 9-3. Commitment to gender equality is reflected in
of work. Where a selected management. programme objectives. (Proportion of gender aim
candidate is appointed into a attributed to programme)
10. Protect
position that requires a clear 9-4. Staff with particular experience in gender equality
beneficiaries from
understanding of gender is involved in programme management. (Deployment of
sexual exploitation
equality, this will be addressed gender specialist and/or field staff with gender training)
and abuse by our
as a priority within the induction
staff. 9-5. Partners are selected based on an appraisal of
period and probationary review.
their capacity to address gender inequalities through
(OGB Gender policies and programmes, or their motivation to do so.
Non-Negotiables) (Commitment to gender equality for a criteria for partner
Performance Management selection)
As of May 2005 all CMT and 10-1. A system for reporting cases of sexual
SMT members and all A–C exploitation and abuse by our staff exists. (Policy or
grade staff in International reporting system at field level to deal with SEA cases,
Division (ID) and Campaigns number of cases of SEA reported)
and Policy Division (CPD)
will include within their
performance objectives
(and, as appropriate, their

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Personal Development plan)
practical action in support of
Oxfam GB’s policy on gender
equality. This can either be
integrating gender in to an
existing objective or developing
a stand alone one on gender.
All remaining staff in these
Divisions (ID and CPD) will
achieve this by May 2006.
(OGB Gender
Non-Negotiables)
Handout 3.5
Scenarios: Applying gender
standards in disaster risk reduction
and emergency response

1. In an emergency assessment, you learn from cyclone-affected families that they have a clinic in their
village which has never opened, as no staff were assigned. Before the cyclone, the community used the
health centre in the town, 5 km away. Women gave birth there, as they do not have a traditional birth
attendant. There is no trained community health worker in the village. Unfortunately, the town health centre
has been severely damaged in the cyclone, and looks like it will take months before it will be fixed, if the
government has the money and will to do it.

2. In an assessment, you are told by the women that they have heard from their husbands about a
forthcoming meeting with a visiting NGO team. They also say that they have not been invited, and that they
do not mind, as in their culture, meetings are for elders and the men of the community.

3. Your NGO has distributed female hygiene kits to IDPs who have been living in a camp since the conflict
broke out eight months ago. The kit contains soap, sanitary pads, female underwear, dipper and small basin.
A second distribution is planned after six months. In a meeting with IDPs, the male leaders complain that
the women were given preferential treatment, while they also needed shirts and underwear and clothes, not
having brought any with them when they evacuated their village.

4. Your NGO is planning to do cash distribution for families affected by a mudslide. In preparation for this,
you are validating the list of affected families that was prepared by the local authorities. In one of the cash
distribution projects in another country, your NGO has prioritized women beneficiaries. There was feedback
from many women that they were not able to control the money, and some of them gave in to their husbands’
demands for money, even if they were sure it would be spent on alcohol.

5. You have organized a WATSAN committee with equal numbers of women and men. In a meeting facilitated
by your staff, the responsibilities of the members are agreed; i.e. women and men will assume the same tasks
on rotation. After about three months of implementation, you learn from some women members that they
ended up doing most of the work (such as cleaning the communal latrines, putting soap in the hand-washing
facility) and doing house-to-house hygiene campaigns. During the third month, the facilities in one of the
distribution points were broken. The WATSAN committee met to decide and take action to repair the facility.
The person in charge of repair and maintenance, a man, unilaterally decided to build another distribution point
and use the money the committee had collected for maintenance. When the NGO found out about this later on,
they were informed that the other male members supported this decision. The majority of the women say they
also eventually agreed, saying repair and maintenance of the facilities is not their domain.

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6. The wife of a community chieftain, an elderly women, insists that you build at least one well and one
family latrine in their backyard. She is acting chieftain of the village as her husband is ill and cannot perform
his duties. As well as being the acting chieftain, her family owns a corn and rice mill in the town, where the
farmers go, often on loan, to have their grain milled. The woman also lends money to farmers, and about 50
per cent of the farmers have recently borrowed money from her. The woman threatens to disallow your NGO
to operate in the village if you go against her wishes. All the water facilities in the village were broken and
deliberately destroyed by the armed group which used to control the village. About 85 IDP family returnees
will depend on the water facilities and latrines that you plan to build in the village.

7. A team of geologists survey villages which suffer from annual flooding. Situated near a factory belt, and
near coastal towns, the low-lying villages are flooded for half of the year, even during summer, especially
during high tide when seawater reaches to where the houses are located. Findings from the geological
survey confirm ground subsidence caused by over-extraction of water. Other factors such as poor waste
management have aggravated the problem – garbage is thrown into canals and drainage systems. To
disseminate these findings and urge the government to implement disaster mitigation plans, a local NGO
organizes meetings with the local government and some community groups. The meetings are noticeably
male-dominated, as men dominate the local government councils and there are no women members of the
government’s disaster response and rescue committee. The few women in the meeting are government
employees who are asked to minute the meeting and to prepare food.

8. A forum on natural resource management is organized by a local NGO. The forum highlights the alarming
rate by which the country is losing its forest cover due to illegal logging activities. Despite the log ban, some
NGOs allege that many logging concessionaries are able to continue with their illegal activities because they
are protected by some military and police authorities. During the forum, a concerned citizen also highlights
unsustainable practices in the community and households, usually performed by women, such as cutting tree
branches for firewood, slash and burn activities, and poor waste management. Dynamite, cyanide, and trawl
fishing are also identified as culprits because they kill small fish and damage the coral reefs. Many fishers
and those working in logging companies are men. A participant in the forum argues that a ban on logging
and police measures to stop harmful fishing activities will mean that many men will lose their livelihoods, and
hence many families will go hungry.

9. Two separate focus group discussions (FGD), one with women and one with men, are held to assess the
recovery needs of IDPs returning to their village after a peace agreement is forged between the government
and a rebel group. When asked to name in order of priority the three things they need in assistance, the
FGDs with women and with men yield different results. Men list as priorities: working animals, agricultural
tools, and shelter materials. The women list: shelter, a health centre, and capital to start small businesses.

10. A cash-for-work project is being planned by an NGO to help earthquake- affected families recover from
the disaster. The NGO is keen to implement it in such a way that the work that beneficiaries will do benefits
the whole community. They are also determined to choose women as priority beneficiaries. The NGO
realizes, however, that most of the work needed by the community involves repair of facilities damaged by
the earthquake, such as schools, multi-purpose centres, mosques, drainage systems, and health centres.
The NGO is told by the government that these are considered male tasks and that the women in the village
have never been involved in any construction work.

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11. Three provinces are warned that a volcano, which has been dormant for 200 years, is again active and
threatening to erupt. The provincial governments quickly meet with the local district governments and instruct
them to develop contingency plans. The province has been visited in the past by annual floods and landslide
events, some of which forced communities to evacuate to the schools and churches in the town. In many
of these evacuations, women played a critical role in listing the families and accounting for missing family
members, managing relief distribution activities, and giving useful descriptions which helped to determine the
extent of damage incurred by the villages. In compliance with the directive, the district governments organize
disaster preparedness planning workshops, for which participation is restricted to government officials and
employees in each of the departments. The workshops are top-down, i.e., the contingency plans that are
developed are devoid of any consultation with the community. Further, 90 per cent of district government
officials are men.

12. A donor decides to give money to the local government to build houses for tsunami-affected families in
a coastal town in Country A. Pressed to complete the project in a short time, the donor and the government
decide it is simpler to sub-contract the project to a construction firm who will hire their own workers. Many of
the beneficiaries are families who lost their male members during the tsunami. During the implementation,
the women in the houses, who are also members of self-help groups, clash with the construction head
and eventually with the workers because they disapprove of the materials used by the construction firm,
which they say are inferior and of low quality. The workers insinuate that the women know nothing about
construction, so their complaints have no basis. The construction is suspended because of this. The women
are contemplating asking your NGO, which is working with them in the self-help groups, to intervene on their
behalf and talk to the donor about their concerns.

13. While doing your regular monitoring visit to check the progress of a shelter and livelihood recovery
programme for tsunami-affected families, you learn in an informal chat with women beneficiaries about
reversal surgery (the process of reconnecting fallopian tubes which had been ligated during sterilization
to block the pathway to the ovum). Your organization does not have programmes supporting reproductive
health. However, the women choose to inform you about this problem affecting many of them in their village.
Many of them are opposed to the surgery, but are forced to submit to their husbands’ impositions in order to
‘replace’ the children that many of the families lost during the disaster.

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 Handout 3.6
Case studies for group work

1 Disaster risk reduction and response in Pakistan

In Pakistan, Oxfam runs a ‘Sustainable Livelihoods and Disaster Risk Reduction’ programme in areas
prone to floods, drought, cyclones, and earthquakes. It aims to develop disaster-resilient sustainable
livelihoods and to develop the capacity of communities to manage emergencies with an explicit targeting of
women. Strategies adopted to promote women’s empowerment include forming separate community-based
organizations for women and men in every village and ensuring early-warning committees included both
women and men; carrying out gender-disaggregated disaster needs assessments; meeting women-specific
needs such as emergency shelters for women and children only; and promoting the ideal of the ‘Sughaar’
woman (southern Punjab) who possesses all the qualities needed to support the community’s disaster
preparedness, including non-traditional roles which challenge male assumptions about the limitations of
women’s potential.
Among the programme’s achievements on gender are the following:
• During the floods in District Layyah in the province of Punjab in 2005 the loss of safe private areas for
women and children to defecate was identified as a priority need, and women were actively involved in site
selection and construction of the latrines. A public health risk was averted, women’s privacy ensured, and
women were empowered to take on non-traditional gender roles.
• In the same district, a women’s relief committee, supported by men, led a participatory process of selecting
criteria for targeting beneficiaries, mapping vulnerable households, registering and distributing food rations
in the name of female beneficiaries. The distribution process was transparent and food rations reached the
most vulnerable women. Women emerged from their houses to voice their opinions, and their status and
self-esteem were strengthened.
• In District Rajanpur a community-based risk reduction project distributes wireless telephone sets to the
most vulnerable women in the community. These women become focal points for early warning information
with responsibility to relay critical information by telephone. The telephones also diversify their livelihoods
strategies as they charge community members to make calls. The ownership of these strategic assets
enables the most vulnerable women to participate actively in DRR work.
Source: ‘Gender and disasters: Experiences from Pakistan’. Oxfam Pakistan office, unpublished paper, 2008.

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2 Lobbying for the inclusion of gender concerns in Pakistan’s National Disaster Risk
Management Framework
Following the Pakistan earthquake of 2005, Oxfam worked closely with the newly formed National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA) to ensure that the National Disaster Risk Management Framework reflected
gender concerns. It achieved this by using the momentum and space created by the earthquake to advocate
strongly for a broad consultation with civil society organizations, and to ensure that their perspectives
influenced the framework. There was a particular focus on gender, which had not been addressed at all
in the first draft. Oxfam supported the NDMA to develop the gender content of the framework so that it
acknowledged the need for gender-sensitive risk reduction measures. It ensured that there was a focus on
the most vulnerable social groups including women, children, and the elderly; and that women should be
recognized as equal stakeholders in decision-making processes in preparedness, response, recovery, and
reconstruction programmes. Responsibilities of the Ministry for Women and Development were drafted and
these included raising awareness among women of disaster risks, developing the capacities of women’s
organizations in disaster risk management, and supporting the rehabilitation of women’s livelihoods,
particularly those working in the unregulated informal sector.
Source: Oxfam GB Pakistan office and ‘National Disaster Risk Management Framework Pakistan’, March 2007.

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 Handout 3.7
Examples of practices and activities to
strengthen gender equality and empower women
in programmes addressing risk reduction1

Gender sensitive disaster risk reduction

Make DRR a priority at all levels, with a strong institutional basis for implementation
• Ensure that the priorities of grassroots women’s organizations are represented in co-ordination mechanisms
for DRR, such as national platforms;
• Ensure that analysis and planning for DRR capacity development is prioritized equitably for men and women;
• Ensure that budget allocation for DRR implementation in all sectors and levels is prioritized for action that
benefits women;
• Promote the involvement of women in participatory community planning processes for DRR through the
adoption of specific policies; in the creation of networks; and when determining roles and responsibilities,
authority over, and management of, available resources.

Identify and monitor risks, and enhance early warning

• Involve both women and men equally in the development of risk and hazard maps and data, and identify
gender-specific aspects of risk and vulnerability;
• Support research, analysis, and reporting on long-term and emerging issues that might increase the risks
faced by women;
• Encourage the participation of women where possible in early-warning systems and ensure they are
appropriate and accessible to both women and men. This means that communication alerts, media, and
technology need to be tailored to the preferences and behaviour patterns of women and men.

Build understanding and a culture of safety and resilience at all levels

• Ensure that women’s as well as men’s knowledge is promoted to build a culture of safety;
• Ensure that activities and events to build understanding of risk target women as key change agents, and that
the means of communication are appropriate for women;
• Promote the targeting of children, especially girls, with risk knowledge through formal and informal channels;
• Ensure equal access to DRR training and educational opportunities for women.

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 Reduce underlying risk factors
• Ensure that critical safety facilities and infrastructure (e.g. evacuation shelters and emergency housing,
water, sanitation, and health systems) are resilient to hazards, accessible to both women and men, and that
women have adequate privacy and security;
• Promote the importance of support to women and groups involved in sustainable ecosystems and natural
resource management, including planning land-use to reduce risk;
• Promote diverse livelihoods options for women to reduce their vulnerability to hazards, and ensure that risks
faced by women are not increased by inappropriate development policy and practice;
• Ensure that the development of financial risk-sharing mechanisms prioritizes the involvement of women, and
that they are accessible and appropriate to the needs of women at risk of disaster;
• Raise awareness among both women and men about a woman’s right to live free from violence at home and
in the public domain.

Strengthen preparedness to respond effectively at all levels

• Disaster preparedness and response plans should take into account gender-differentiated vulnerabilities
and capacities, be disseminated to both women and men in languages both can understand, and prioritize
actions to reduce the risks faced;
• The importance of women as key change agents should be promoted and women fully involved in
community disaster management committees, disaster response drills, etc.

Measures to address GBV in programmes that address risk reduction, including in emergencies
International organizations working in post-disaster situations have been urged to implement measures to
help prevent GBV and undertake responsive actions to assist victims or survivors with their needs (e.g. for
psychosocial support and medical and legal aid). Initiatives to prevent GBV range from community-based
approaches to policy advocacy at country, regional, and global levels.
Responsive action involves providing medical and psychological counselling to survivors, assistance in
reporting for victims (who are willing to report cases and have them investigated) and legal assistance to
bring the perpetrators to appropriate courts. In some conflicts like Sudan and the DRC, where there are
many reported cases of GBV, international organizations have worked together to establish referral systems
to enable victims to seek and benefit from different forms of assistance.
The challenge to prevent GBV is indeed enormous. Involving women’s rights organizations is critical to
support female victims of violence. This is because women and girls are likely to feel less threatened
and better supported by women’s organizations than mixed organizations, and because women’s rights
organizations will have the best local analysis of the impact of violence against women. It is of course also
critical that men are involved in finding ways to reduce violence perpetrated against women. Male victims of
violence need to be supported through other community structures, such as men’s groups.
Coordination between communities, health and social services, police, security forces, and the legal justice
systems (including traditional or customary law and national legal institutions) must also be ensured in
implementing GBV prevention and response measures.
Humanitarian and peacekeeping staff must also uphold the highest standards of conduct by ensuring that
they do not engage in any act of sexual exploitation and abuse, and appropriate measures are undertaken if
any personnel violate the Code of Conduct.

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Policy and advocacy
Oxfam aspires to the following types of advocacy on women’s rights and gender equality in programmes
addressing risk reduction.
Internally
Oxfam should ensure that its own national advocacy strategies for DRR promote gender equality and
women’s rights.
Locally
Oxfam can influence policy at the local level by raising awareness of best practice on gender in programmes
addressing risk reduction.
Nationally
Oxfam should aspire to lead advocacy on gender equality and the protection of women’s rights in processes
such as national coordination and advocacy forums, e.g. the national platforms responsible for taking forward
the commitments of the Hyogo Framework. Oxfam should also advocate on issues of specific identified
risk, such as environmental protection. The focus should be on ensuring that DRR interventions respond to
the needs of both women and men, that specific measures are taken to protect women’s rights and support
their empowerment, and that it is accepted that women’s active participation and leadership in the relevant
decision-making processes is essential in order to achieve such policy change.
Internationally
Oxfam advocates a major transfer of international funds toward DRR, including the demand that such work is
implemented in an equitable, pro-poor, and gender-sensitive manner. It should also advocate increasing the
active participation of women in the UNFCCC bodies and annual climate change meetings.
At all levels
Oxfam needs to form alliances with women’s rights networks working to ensure that DRR policy-making is
gender-responsive.

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