The gendered dimensions of disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change : stories from the Pacific

Abstract

To address the risks women, men, girls and boys face from hazards, climate change and environmental degradation, it is essential to understand a range of variables, such as where people live, their culture, social values and economic position. Different hazards such as earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis, drought, landslides, erosion and wildfires, present different challenges to governments, organisations and communities. Hazards turn into disasters when people do not have the capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from them. The number of people living on Pacific Islands affected by weather-related disasters has increased from 1.2 million to 18 million in the past 30 years with droughts, extreme temperature events and tropical cyclones producing the most significant impacts (International Federation of Red Cross IFRC) 2002. There are ways to reduce the threat of disaster, however, including examining gender.