What Does UN Women do in Humanitarian Action?
Date:
UN Women Photo/Dorian Clarke
Natural hazards, climate change-related disasters, global crises, deepen gender inequalities.
To this end, UN Women as co-chair of the Protection Working Group and participating agency in the GBV subgroup, is working with the Jamaica National Gender Machinery, UNFPA and other sister UN agencies to safeguard the rights of women and girls who are among the more vulnerable of the affected persons in a crisis. Importantly too, we work to make sure they are at the centre and meaningfully participating in relief and recovery. These efforts are to ensure that women and girls are protected from incidences of violence or where these occur, they are able to safely access the needed services – health, shelter, psychosocial support, legal support and justice.
UN Women is also collaborating with UNICEF to strengthen social protection and lifesaving assistance by providing targeted supplemental financial support through cash transfers to low- income and vulnerable women with children.
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Gender Context - Women and Girls in Crisis Situations:
- Women and girls face risks of violence throughout their lives. During a crisis, violence against women and girls escalates. UN Women therefore while working for the elimination of violence against women and girls per the organisation’s mandate (longer term), in moments of crisis - is focused on responses that promote women’s leadership and participation (immediate moment) and building systems that will ensure long term self-reliance and resilience (sustainable development).
- Women lose their livelihoods faster because they are more exposed in informal and lower paying jobs in tourism, fishing, agriculture and other economic sectors usually worst hit by natural hazards. Loss of informal livelihoods further deepens economic insecurity and increases risk of exploitation.
- Responsibility for children, the elderly, persons living with disabilities and sick family members – Care Work for women increases in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, reduces their ability to engage in recovery or decision-making and continues long after which also adds to their economic vulnerability. They are restricted in the time available to restore their livelihoods and may be forced into harmful situations of dependency for financial support.
- UN Women works with frontline responders, CSOs and institutional actors to ensure the humanitarian response to the crisis, includes women and girls’ voices and addresses both immediate needs and long-term inequalities impacting them.
For further information contact UN Women at info.brb@unwomen.org.