Disaster Management, Women And The World Humanitarian Summit

The first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) was held in Istanbul, Turkey on Monday, 23^rd May, 2016.

The 2-day event, according to the United Nations, was to serve as a “wake up call for action in the service of common humanity, providing a launch pad for new initiatives”.

The WHS was a global event, attracting over 65 Heads of States and representatives from across the world to engage in discussions with civil society organisations, scholars, the private sector, the UN community and many others.

Steven O’Brien, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) talked about the necessity of the Summit, stating that, “In this ever globalizing world where we know things so quickly, we need to be able to reach the people who have the greatest vulnerability and need, and the ones who are furthest behind first.”

“It is people caught up in crisis through no fault of their own who need us to be even better at delivering humanitarian action of food and shelter, and making sure that water and sanitation and medical treatment is available to them,” he included.

The summit was supposed to set up proactive measure in response delivery to crisis caused by natural and man-made disasters.

Over the years, climate change has become an inescapable phenomena.

In 2015, the UK Met Office estimated 2016 to be the hottest year ever recorded, as it did 2015 and 2014, with each year surpassing the record of the previous year.

In May, CNN delved into new data released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which revealed that April was the warmest April on record.

Ghanaians can, arguably, attest to this by the “heat waves” we have been experiencing through the month of March and April, as well as the barrage of rains that suddenly pelt the capital and other regions.

With the onset of the rainy season, and immense flooding in Accra and other regions due to heavy rains experienced last week in Ghana, as well as the unmistakable déjà vu of last year’s June 3^rd disaster due to floods, the need to address climate change and find effective measures to address it has never been so urgent.

This is why the World Humanitarian Summit was so very important.

Across the world, climate change has caused an unprecedented amount of humanitarian crisis.

Before the beginning of the Summit, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson said this, “In the meeting here in Istanbul, always think of the people who are affected – the victims. This conference is about the victims, and having a more effective way of reaching out to help them.

Humanitarian crisis such as the Nepal Earthquake, Syria Refugee Crisis, El Nino/ Ethiopia drought, the Ebola Epidemic, and many others have exposed a lack of preparedness on behalf of the local and international community to combat humanitarian crises.

With women at the receiving end of the devastating effects of man-made and natural humanitarian crises, their overall involvement in high-level World Humanitarian Summit is very crucial

However, ActionAid Australia’s Deputy Director, Michelle Higelin reported on women’s leadership from the World Humanitarian Summit observing that, “the World Humanitarian Summit kicked off in Istanbul yesterday amidst a sea of dark suits and the occasional splash of colour – a clear depiction of where the power lies in the global humanitarian system. While women can be spotted observing the Summit, it’s much harder to spot them speaking at official High Level Round Table discussions, or on panels at side events.”

This came as no surprise.
As Michelle Higelin stated, “sometimes women are lumped in with the children, conveniently ignoring the little thing called patriarchy that has resulted in the historical exclusion of women from decision making in every sphere”

However, not to be daunted, ActionAid had already set up a space for women - ActionAid’s Women First Responders Summit.

Below is an excerpt of a piece written by Michelle Higelin, who was part of the meeting.

“With support from the Australian Government, ActionAid’s Women First Responders Summit provided space for women emergency leaders from Africa, Asia and Pacific to organise and mobilise in order to challenge the status quo. It brought together women’s organisations and local women leaders that have responded to recent emergencies: from Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, to the Ebola crisis in Liberia, drought in Kenya and tropical cyclones in the Pacific.

With the proliferation of experts across every humanitarian sector, these inspirational women deserve recognition as experts in their own right. Despite limited resources to document their efforts to respond, they are best placed to work with affected communities.

They have vital knowledge on local culture and custom that can support more effective and sustainable humanitarian response. They are providing incredible leadership across many fields: using community media to document women’s experiences in disaster; training community leaders to avert the spread of Ebola; mobilising women to identify and respond to their own protection risks; representing women’s voices on local disaster management committees; and providing leadership in relief distributions, livelihood recovery and psychosocial support.

What’s impressive in this story is the numerous hurdles that women have had to overcome to lead in emergency response; hurdles that are consistent across diverse contexts. Male dominated leadership continues to limit the space for women’s access to decision making and gives limited - if any - recognition to their efforts. Their unpaid care burden has magnified in each emergency, particularly in the face of poor public services and infrastructure. For some, lack of information and even access to education has also challenged women’s ability to participate.

However, what’s clear is that women are incredibly resilient and refuse to stay silent. The Women First Responders’ Summit delivered a powerful call to delegates attending the World Humanitarian Summit that they want more than empty commitments on paper to catalyse action to achieve gender equality. They want commitments to translate into policies and plans that are costed into national budgets with strong accountability mechanisms and regular reporting on progress. Women want support for their organising and mobilising efforts and no less than 50% of funding that will be earmarked for “local partners”. They also want recognition and inclusion in the UN humanitarian cluster coordination system and a separate structure to independently monitor gender equality in each response. Women first responders are also demanding that governments eradicate sexual and gender based violence by resourcing early education in schools and most importantly, ending the impunity for the continued sexual exploitation and abuse of women in crisis.

The message to the men in suits is clear: it’s about recognition, representation, resources and respect for women’s rights.

ActionAid is on board and has issued its commitments for the World Humanitarian Summit which include ensuring at least 50% of our implementing partners in humanitarian action are women-led or women’s organisations by 2020; that 50% of humanitarian staff at all levels are women; and to increase funding and support to local and national women’s groups as equal partners in our emergency response work.

As we head into the second and final day of the Summit, we’ll be standing behind the women frontline responders attending events, and supported to speak out and be heard where they can. What’s clear is that there is a lot more work to do beyond the World Humanitarian Summit. Today provides an opportunity for women from around the world to consolidate their messages, and to plan how they will, together, continue to push for an agenda that will protect them and their rights. ActionAid stands behind them today and will continue to in the weeks, months and years to come. We’re committed to taking action to shift the power!”

Communications/PR Unit
Michelle Higelin
ActionAid Ghana
Deputy Director
ActionAid Australia
For the full piece from Michelle Higelin, please visit: http://www.actionaid.org/australia/mensmeeting