Women’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction: Capacities and Challenges

INTRODUCTION:Given the increasing natural hazards, there is an increasing emphasis on innovative disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives aimed at increasing resilience and recognizing women as key stakeholders in all disaster management activities, although their role remains limited for unclear reasons.Since understanding gender issues and their impact in shaping people's lives is crucial in disaster risk reduction, this study seeks to examine the effective role of women's participation in disaster risk reduction.METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical and library study, factors such as women's empowerment, increasing participation in decision-making levels, improving access to resources and information, and changing traditional attitudes that play a role in reducing women's vulnerability were examined.The necessary data were collected by reviewing relevant parameters in reputable articles, reports and books.The statistical population includes women from disasterprone countries such as Tamil Nadu (India), Bangladesh, Nepal, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Ethiopia and other countries. FINDINGS:The findings indicate that women's vulnerability to disasters is a combination of biological, social, cultural, economic and political factors, and that traditional caregiving roles, gender discrimination and inequalities in access to resources, information and decision-making increase their vulnerability.In addition, disasters impose more severe psychological, social and economic consequences on women.CONCLUSION: According to the results, due to unequal social and cultural structures, women are more vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters.Therefore, disaster management policies and actions must be gender-sensitive.Empowering women, promoting their participation in decision-making, improving their access to resources and information, and changing traditional attitudes can reduce the impact of crises on women and increase the overall resilience of society.