Gender equality and social inclusion are key to the success of all post-2015 multilateral agendas, including 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework, and all future actions on reducing climate and disaster risk.

A recent conference that brought together national disaster management agencies and development partners emphasized once again the need for gender equality and human rights for effective disaster reisk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Krishna Karkee from Women Humanitarian Disaster Risk Reduction Platform (WHDRRP) said that women are active change agents in society.

Krishna said: “WHDRRP is a platform for learning, ones that I learnt, our mothers learnt, and our grandmothers learnt in the context of disasters. So, bringing women together is very important – to gather not only our knowledge and practices but also challenges and lessons we have learnt.”

As a network of women DRR practitioners, WHDRRP works on capacity building for leadership development in DRR and CCA, research and advocacy for advancing women’s leadership, mainstreaming gender equality, disability and social inclusion into DRR and CCA policy and programs, and coordination and collaboration at different levels of government.

Danang Nizar of The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) called for greater mainstreaming of the framework at community, national, and regional levels, such as in designing risk assessments, building capacity around disaster response and preparedness, and developing risk-based land use planning guidelines, to ensure that human rights and gender equality are closely monitored and integrated in DRR.

Danang presented the Framework for Integrating Rights and Equality (FIRE), jointly developed by RWI, ADPC, Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and SEI under the BRDR programme. FIRE is a guiding framework that supports the integration of human rights and gender equality aspects into DRR measures, enabling decision-makers, academia and practitioners to design and implement laws, policies and procedures and evaluate existing DRR practices through a joint human rights and gender equality lens.

SEI Asia’s Camille Pross explained how women environmental human rights defenders are often considered anti-development by the government. But in fact, they are crucial contributors to DRR since they mobilize against projects that are destructive to people and the environment and build community resilience. By highlighting the efforts of defenders in addressing the structural causes of vulnerability, Camille’s research advocates for more equitable development.