- Report issued on six Asian nations’ integration of rights and gender equality into the disaster preparedness and related response
- Seeks to allay misconceptions that such incorporation is burdensome, unnecessary, and a distraction from priorities
As countries in Asia face growing disaster and climate related risks, Governments are coming under increased pressure to strengthen their disaster preparedness and response capacity. One important and often overlooked aspect of this situation is the need to consider and respond to gender inequality and human rights based issues in the context of disasters and climate change. A necessary first step in this regard is overcoming the perception that effectively integrating human rights based approaches and gender and social equality actions into the disaster preparedness and response policy is burdensome, unnecessary and a distraction from other priorities.
These observations were made in a report issued this week, which noted that the extent of the integration of human rights and gender equality in disaster preparedness and its response in six Asian countries, namely Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, varies. Titled “Integrating Rights and Equality in Disaster Preparedness and Response: Insights from Six Countries”, the report was issued by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and was authored by researchers Michael Boyland and Nicole Anschell.
Among the related matters that the report paid attention to were fundamental rights and equality, non-discrimination, participation and access to information, governance structures and systems, agency and empowerment, and social norms and context.
Human rights, gender equality in Asia
The report highlighted that rights and equality integration in the said countries is partial, uneven, and at times, lacking altogether. In some contexts, gender considerations are mainstreamed well at the national policy level, but are applied weakly at the local level. The strength of rights based approaches in disaster contexts, the report added, does not evenly reflect how countries consider international human rights law and national legislation. “While disasters stem from natural hazards, their outcomes are not natural as they are rooted in socio-political power structures and developmental processes. People’s experiences of disasters depend not only on the strength of a storm or the height of flood waters, but on their exposure, vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities tied to their socio-economic status, age, gender, ability and migrant status, among other characteristics.”
Noting the importance of countries ratifying international human rights treaties in integrating rights and equality into disaster preparedness and the response to it, the report added that Sri Lanka is a State Party to all International Treaties that the report looked into, while the other five countries had not signed certain Treaties or was a mere signatory to some. Among the Treaties were the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICMW), the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CPED), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The report recognised that Sri Lanka’s National Policy on Disaster Management explicitly recognises links to human rights such as “equal rights to receive assistance and information regardless of ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, ability or other personal attributes”. It further discussed that in Sri Lanka, public institutions have the responsibility to provide affected populations with disaster risk information prior to and during a disaster, and that the 2010 National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy also acknowledges that “disaster prone communities have the right to participate in and contribute to the planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring processes related to disaster management”.
Recommendations
To improve the above mentioned situation in the six countries, the report presented several recommendations, which it said were for the attention of duty bearers and other actors to consider when working together to strengthen rights and equality based approaches in disaster preparedness and the response to it.
Making visible how social norms and power dynamics shape rights and equality in disaster preparedness and responsive governance, planning and implementation, was one of the recommendations, regarding which it was stated: “The social norms in a given context are foundational to how well rights and equality are integrated into societies, policies and practices. If they are widely held core values, that increases the likelihood that they will be considered in preparedness and response related action. However, in some countries, ‘human rights’ is a politicised and controversial term. Such politicisation prevents rights based approaches from being implemented effectively and evenly.” Presenting as another recommendation the development and strengthening of partnerships between human rights institutions, gender equality agencies, and both Governmental and non-Governmental disaster preparedness and response actors, the report noted that the structure and mandate of governance institutions play an important role in rights and equality integration, and that therefore, where there are stand alone, independent institutions with mandates to promote and ensure rights and equality, such as human rights commissions and women’s ministries, their presence increases the likelihood that sectors will prioritise these issues. Also recommending that coherence be built between sectors and stakeholders at all levels of governance for more effective and inclusive disaster preparedness and responsive governance, planning and implementation, the report said that such coherence is needed to enable effective integration and that when rights and equality actors are directly engaged in disaster risk reduction decision making processes, it promotes an integration based agenda. Among the stakeholders it highlighted were Government and civil society actors, including non-Governmental organisations, the academia and the private sector. In addition, it was recommended to prioritise the effective, meaningful and equal participation of all stakeholders, particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups, in disaster preparedness and responsive governance, planning and implementation, regarding which it was explained: “Meaningful participation requires that individuals are entitled to participate in decisions directly affecting them and are included in the design, implementation and monitoring of the relevant interventions. Meaningful participation of all stakeholders, including at risk people, is a key enabler of rights and equality integration.” Allocating sufficient human, financial, physical and intellectual resources over the long term to strengthen the integration of rights and equality in disaster preparedness and response at all levels was another recommendation. In this regard, the report explained that in order to enhance the capacity of the relevant stakeholders, resources must be made available to integrate rights and equality at all levels. It added that some but not all countries have mechanisms that require Government agencies to allocate a fixed percentage of annual budgets for gender equality related activities, which is an effective way to enable integration to improve over time. The report recommended strengthening monitoring and evaluation and learning mechanisms to ensure the accountability and transparency of disaster preparedness and responsive governance, planning and implementation at all levels. Noting that when conducted regularly and effectively, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms serve as an important pillar of good governance and that such is also key for effective preparedness and response initiatives, it added that furthermore, monitoring and evaluation is required for the accountability and transparency of disaster funds use, as well as how funds reserved for gender equality activities have been utilised at all levels of Government. In addition, it recommended to ensure that rights reflected in international standards, including the right to equality, are core principles of disaster preparedness and response action, by meaningfully engaging with national human rights institutions and gender equality agencies; building the capacity of key disaster, gender equality and human rights institutions at all levels to coherently integrate rights and equality in disaster preparedness and response; to strengthen the implementation and operationalisation of rights and equality based dimensions of disaster preparedness and response related policies, plans, guidelines and procedures at all levels; and to design and implement disaster preparedness and response actions based on data disaggregated by social groups, and also to ensure that “nobody is left behind”, in line with the Sendai Framework (an international document that focuses on the adoption of measures which address the three dimensions of disaster risks [exposure to hazards, vulnerability and capacity, and hazard’s characteristics] in order to prevent the creation of new risk, reduce existing risk and increase resilience) and Sustainable Development Goals.
Bullet points
Sri Lanka’s National Policy on Disaster Management explicitly recognises links to human rights such as “equal rights to receive assistance and information regardless of ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, ability or other personal attributes”: Report on rights and equality in disaster preparedness and responsiveness
“Making ‘human rights’ a politicised, controversial term prevents rights based approaches from being implemented effectively, evenly”
“Prioritise effective, meaningful, equal participation of all stakeholders, particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups, in disaster preparedness and responsive governance, planning, and implementation”
Source By themorning.lk
