SESSION 4.1: PROTECTION OF AT-RISK GROUPS
Time allotted for Session 4.1:
1 hour
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POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
Time allotted for PowerPoint presentation:
45 minutes
Slide 1: Introduction
Slide 2: Overview
 Introduction: Disaster and vulnerable groups
 Selected examples of vulnerability:
o Gender
o Children
o Poverty
o Disability
Facilitator note: You can ask participants to name vulnerable groups and express why they think
those groups are vulnerable.
Slide 3: Introduction: Disasters and Vulnerable Groups
 Disasters = natural hazard + human vulnerability
 Affected communities differ in their:
o Resistance
o Resilience
o Self-reliance
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The position of groups within society impacts:
o Power dynamics and leverage
o Marginalization vs. integration
o Needs and priorities
Slide 4: Gender and Vulnerability
Especially non-western social contexts, gender affects:
 Needs
 Skills/capacities
 Level of risk
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010
Gender is a cross-cutting issue with implications for all sectors, for example WATSAN – water
and sanitation – health, education, shelter.
Upholding gender equity in disaster response requires special attention
Slide 5: Gender Roles: Maldives examples
Women:
 Childcare
 Home-keeping and household food preparation
 Home-based enterprise (fish processing, food production)
 Gardening
Men:
 Fishing and work for cash
 Interfacing with the local authorities
 Paper work and household spending
How were these roles affected by the tsunami?
Slide 6: Gender in the Relief phase
Women:
May not receive necessary health care (Could be pregnant, menstruating)
May be at increased threat of sexual violence of abuse
May be denied adequate relief aid or compensation for their losses
May experience ongoing sexual vulnerability, fear, terror
May experience ongoing economic vulnerability
Are usually excluded from a voice in rebuilding and reconstruction efforts
Slide 7: Gender in the Recovery Phase
Women may experience:
 Increased workload
 Loss of basic facilities and household goods -> loss of income
 Changes in family and gender roles
Men:
 May migrate to find work
 Reconstruction can provide income opportunities
 Psychological consequences of having been unable to protect his family
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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Slide 8: Barriers to using a Gender Lens
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Gender Blind: simply don’t see the issues or think that they are being exaggerated
Women forgotten in immediate impact assessment, then lose out when it’s considered too
late
“No more assessments” People are fed up with repeated questions
Disaster response workers claim:
 Not our responsibility
 Not enough time
 Not the right time
 Not enough money
Disaster workers not trained and uncomfortable with the realities of gender inequalities.
Lack of capacity of local organizations
Slide 9: Gender: What is to be done?
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Gender training for disaster workers
Documentation of gender abuse in disaster settings (not swept under the carpet)
Collect gender-disaggregated data
Equal participation and representation in decision making and planning
Inclusion and practical utilization of women’s organizations, organizing abilities
Important to work with men to prevent neglect, marginalization and abuse of women
Slide 10: Gender: What is to be done?
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Work through existing women’s organizations and community groups
Recruit local women and men for assessment teams; equal men and women on teams
Put codes of conduct in place
Heightened not reduced discussion on GBV
Seek out information from women and men
Develop gender accountability measures
Slide 11: Children and Disasters: Vulnerabilities
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Family separation
Difficulty in finding food, clothes, other basic needs and care
Lack of emergency education
Physical injury and mental trauma
Children may be forced to live on the street if families not provided with adequate support
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010
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Vulnerable to child labour, trafficking, exploitation (especially separated and
unaccompanied children) following disaster
Slide 12: Poverty and Disasters: Vulnerabilities
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Poor people often live in high-risk areas so are more likely to be hit by disasters. Buildings
might be less resilient than in more affluent areas.
Have less resources and no access/money for insurance therefore:
Disasters can accentuate and deepen poverty and lead to reductions in food consumption,
health expenditures, and school enrollment
Lack of resources might force poor people to migrate
Assistance, especially for reconstruction, and livelihoods (cash-for-work programs,
livelihood projects) help households to recover some of their losses from the disaster. Still,
the shock makes households start at a lower baseline and aggravates the risk of falling again
into poverty, particularly for families living close to the poverty line
Slide 13: Sequence of Socio-Economic Vulnerability
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Disasters often cause a socio-economic shock for households leading to a sharp fall in
household incomes that is often also coupled with a social-services shock at the same time
Disaster-affected households need time to adapt to the decreased household income
Assistance, especially for reconstruction, and livelihoods (cash-for-work programs,
livelihood projects) help households to recover some of the losses they had during the
disaster. Still the shock makes households start at a lower baseline and aggravates the risk
especially for families living closely above the poverty line to fall again into poverty
Slide 14: Poverty: What is to be done?
Before the disaster:
Measures aim to avoid the risk from occurring (risk prevention), or, if this is not possible, to
reduce its impact (Investment in Mitigation; Insurance)
After the disaster:
Coping strategies are designed to relieve the impact of the risk once it has occurred (Individual
savings or borrowing; relief assistance; recovery and reconstruction programs)
Slide 15: Mechanisms and Instruments for Social Protection
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
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December 2010
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Microfinance (Credit, savings, and insurance): They provide liquidity to the poor to reduce
the volatility in income and consumption. Limited in their outreach by their focus on credit
and high cost of capital
Food Transfer: Arranged through relief, food stamps, and food-for-work programs
Service Fee / Tax Waivers: Waivers of land revenue, electricity and water charges,
education fee, debt / interest waivers
Cash transfer programs: they provide direct assistance in the form of cash to the poor (Sri
Lanka)
Public works programs: they can act as important inventions for ensuring basic
entitlements
Social funds: Rapid disbursing mechanisms. Allow poor people to become actively involved
in the development of their communities by supporting small projects identified by the
communities (Honduras Social Investment Fund; Second Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund)
Slide 16: Assisting People with Disabilities: The Example of Turkey
Turkey Emergency Earthquake Recovery Loan (EERL):
 Cash transfers to earthquake victims who suffered property damage;
 Cash transfers to survivors and newly disabled persons who were not covered by social
security; and
 Cash transfers to survivors and disabled persons covered by social security.
Slide 17: Social Protection policies and programs should:
Strengthen assets and livelihoods
 Be flexible according to needs
 Be implemented transparently
 Be supported by communications and outreach strategy
 Include mechanisms of redress
Slide 18: Thank you and Questions
Facilitator note: This session is planned as a working group with 1 hour and 45 minutes
allocated for the working groups and the subsequent plenary session. Using the PowerPoint
presentation should take about 45 minutes and with 15 minutes for questions the session should
take about 1 hour.
PLENARY DISCUSSION AND Q & A
Time allotted for plenary discussion:
15 minutes
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Promoting and Protecting Rights in Natural Disasters:
Workshop Modules and Facilitator’s Guide
Page 5 of 5
December 2010