Islamabad : Pakistan continues to be confronted by a series of regional and localized challenges of different natures compounded by recurrent natural disasters (such as floods, earthquakes and droughts, cyclones and landslides etc.). These disasters have devastating consequences, including also widening of the ‘gender’ gaps between women and men.
Women and other vulnerable groups often have fewer resources to protect themselves and, with children, they frequently make up the majority of displaced persons. Women are better placed and envisaged to be responsive in these situations. However, their exclusion limits their access to opportunities to recover and rebuild communities. NDMA through the development of the “National Policy Guidelines on Vulnerable Groups in Disasters” and the “National GCC Framework” has taken up concrete steps to ensure that the voices of women and children, and other vulnerable persons are included in decision-making processes and policy formulation at all levels of disaster management.
Signing Ceremony of the Letter of Agreement between National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) took place in NDMA on 27 July, 2105. Maj. Gen. Asghar Nawaz Chairman NDMA and Mr. Jamshed Kazi, Country Representative, UN Women signed the LOA.
Through this LOA joint initiatives of GCC- NDMA and UN Women will focus on NDMP aligned:
i. Institutional strengthening of GCC to devise its implementation strategy from the main planning and policy documents of NDMA;
ii. Strengthening Pakistan’s “multi-hazard approach” for the prevention and response to natural and human made disasters from a gender perspective;
iii. Ensuring initiatives are responsive to local conditions and requirements and focus on disaster preparedness, disaster management and response; and
iv. Establishing a database to understand the gender dynamics (and impact) in disaster-struck communities for effective disaster preparedness, planning, response and management
