UN-ACTION PLAN: Philippines Super Typhoon Response Gender Alert
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF WOMEN, GIRLS, BOYS AND MEN MAKES HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE MORE EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE TO ALL AFFECTED POPULATIONS
Ensuring the response is effective and follows AAP Principles
Humanitarian assistance is crucial to the survival, security and health of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other affected people. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the specific vulnerabilities, needs and capacities of women, girls, boys and men. Systematic efforts to collect sex-and age-disaggregated data and to consult with women, girls, boys and men of all ages must be put in place in order to ensure that the diverse needs of different groups are understood and targeted effectively in any response.
PRIORITIES TO ENSURE A GENDER-SENSITIVE RESPONSE
1. HEALTH CARE: There are approximately 221,849 pregnant and 147,899 lactating women in the typhoon-affected areas, and 4,660 pregnant and 8,990 lactating women are currently in evacuation centers. Women and girls must have access to priority reproductive health services. Specific guidance on implementing the MISP in this crisis can be accessed here.
Priority activities include ensuring safe deliveries at health facilities with skilled birth attendants; referral to emergency obstetric and newborn care for complications of pregnancy and child birth; distribution of clean delivery kits to pregnant women; and access to clinical care for survivors of sexual violence. It is crucial to ensure anti retrovirals are available to users; contraceptives are available to meet demand; and syndromic treatment is available for people presenting with symptoms of sexually transmitted infections; and women and girls can access menstrual hygiene supplies.”
2. FOOD AND NON-FOOD ITEMS (NFIs): Priorities for food and NFIs should be determined through consulting with women, girls, boys and men (separately, by age and sex) about their individual and family needs. Special measures for delivery should be taken to ensure the inclusion of those who are hard or less easy to reach, including women and girls restricted from leaving their homes, female-headed households, unaccompanied boys and girls, older men and women, and persons with injuries and/or disabilities. Target women in the distribution of NFIs, including house- repair kits and other resources often distributed to heads of household.
3. SHELTER: Shelter programmes must take into account the different needs of women, girls, boys, and men. Host families must be supported in housing IDPs. Where families must share accommodation space, measures must be taken to ensure that these facilities are safe for women, girls, boys and men. Identification of and support to unaccompanied youth, children, older women and men without family members, or those caring for young children, should be prioritized.
4. WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH): Sanitation and water facilities must be designed and provided according to the distinct needs of women, girls, boys and men, which can only be identified through consultation with each gender/age group. Information on WASH practices and the different roles and patterns of different members of households in terms of access and mobility, consumption, collection and engagement in operations and maintenance is critical to the safety, health and wellbeing of women, girls, boys and men of all ages.
5. CASH ASSISTANCE: Women and men must benefit equally from cash assistance programmes. Any cash assistance programme must be built on a gender analysis and be relevant to the local context to determine who will benefit, to ensure that gender inequalities are not exacerbated, and to avoid harmful consequences such as increased domestic violence. A tip-sheet on gender dimensions of cash assistance can be found here.4
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