Advocating for gender equality and social inclusion in disaster risk reduction planning and management, Southern Africa development community experiences

In disaster incidents, women, children, and the disabled are often the most affected victims in disaster situations, especially in developing countries. Extremely poor and developing countries, especially in Africa, lack effective impact-based early warning systems (EWS), hence their communities are often vulnerable and exposed to a range of risks which make disaster mitigation and preparedness a serious challenge. In addition, there is often a lack of disaster relief capacity and resilient infrastructure, hence disaster response and recovery activities become a struggle for impacted communities. In this context, women in particular face greater challenges due to economic dependency, limited resources, and societal perceptions. These deficiencies have become clearer in the decision-making space, especially during post-disaster distribution of relief (humanitarian aid), as this is where human rights violations and discrimination most often happen. This reality of deficiencies has always negatively affected women in the entire disaster management cycle. This policy brief presents, through pertinent arguments, a proposal to the National Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), as it is with this institution that the responsibility for advocacy in gender- and disability inclusivity lies. Gender and disability risk-informed disaster management planning cannot be postponed. It has to be injected into the mainstream policy agenda of government and appropriately resourced for implementation. Additionally, this brief underscores ground-up active participation and leadership of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It is high time that those most often affected take a proactive stance and begin championing their specific needs, which must be acknowledged and integrated into the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and the Service Delivery Improvement Budgeted Plan (SDBIP) at local government level.