UN Women
Humanitarian Action
Strategy 2014-2017
Background

Crises are not gender-neutral; women, girls, boys and men of all ages - are
affected differently and their needs, capacities and coping strategies are
distinct.

And just as crises are not gender-neutral, humanitarian action cannot be
either.

Integration of gender in Humanitarian Action has fallen largely to the Inter
Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Gender and Humanitarian Action subworking group with limited mandate to influence policies and operations.

Engendering Humanitarian Action needs to be systematic and sustainable
instead of relying heavily on experience and personal initiatives of ‘gender
champions’.
Mission Statement*
“Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter
of the United Nations, the composite entity will work for the
elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the
empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality
between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of
development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace
and security”.
*Secretary-General’s comprehensive proposal for the new entity: A/64/588, para. 5
Contextual Framework for UN Women’s Engagement
 Mandate for UN interagency coordination and leadership on
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment ;
 Existing and emerging partnerships with Humanitarian UN
Agencies;
 Strong relationship with Women’s Movement and Gender
Machineries;
 Ongoing work and presence in crisis-affected/disaster prone
countries and regions;
 Reform processes that are shaping the future of Humanitarian
Action.
UN Women in Humanitarian
Action
•
Preparedness and Disaster Risk
Reduction
•
Humanitarian Response and
Early Recovery
•
Post Conflict and Post Disaster
Needs Assessment
Humanitarian Action in UN Women’s Strategic
Plan 2014-17
Under Impact 4: Peace and security and humanitarian action are
shaped by women leadership and participation
Outcome 4.3 :Intergovernmental gender equality commitments in
humanitarian action are adopted and implemented.
•
Result 1: The development of evidence-based knowledge,
including performance measurement and accountability
frameworks;
•
Result 2: Enhancing national and regional capacity of
institutions and partners;
•
Result 3: Strengthening gender-responsive coordination
mechanisms and gender equality programming ;
Priority Approaches
UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy sets out a three tier
implementation approach:
Coordination and Leadership to mainstream gender equality and
women’s empowerment in Humanitarian Action
Operational Coordination at country level through Cluster
Coordination System and Gender Theme Groups
Targeted programme interventions based on demand and
comparative advantage
Development of evidence based knowledge
Priority Interventions

Seek IASC membership and continue engagement through the IASC Gender
Reference Group and GenCap Steering Committee;

Establish and maintain UN Women Crisis Management Capacity and develop
standard guidance on organizational response to humanitarian action;

Undertake evidence-based research and knowledge dissemination;

Influence normative policies, frameworks and guidelines including reporting
on Gender and Accountability in Humanitarian Action;

Pilot country-level action in selected six countries in partnership with OCHA
where UN Women already has on-going work in humanitarian action;

Strengthen the engagement of national women’s machineries in
humanitarian action.
Next Steps
 Build on UN Women’s ongoing work in
humanitarian action;
 Develop implementation plan, including a
resource mobilisation strategy, for roll out
of UN Women’s Humanitarian Strategy;
 Establish partnerships with humanitarian
action stakeholders (government
institutions, civil society, grassroots
organizations, academia).
Thank you