The literature review discussed that integrating gender needs equally, and recognising that women and men have their own strengths and important roles in planning and executing development interventions, can result in effective development practices. Hence, gender mainstreaming has the potential to ensure equal participation of men and women in different social processes, help identify the needs and roles of both genders, and consequently, mitigate gender disparity in critical situations like disasters. Studies have shown the discriminating
impacts of disasters on men and women, thus gender mainstreaming remains crucial in DRRM. However, in the context of delivering development interventions through official development assistance, priorities regarding gender mainstreaming seem misplaced between the partner country and the donor agency. Ideally, aid effectiveness principles elicit development programmes to emanate from the partner country and development assistance to align with the national priorities. However, the concept of “country ownership” suggests underlying power structures and political impositions from donor agencies. The whole literature review implies that mainstreaming gender should be a priority of both the donor and the partner, including but not limited to disaster-related programmes, and it thus remains crucial in making development efforts gender responsive.
Hence, while gender mainstreaming, disaster risk reduction, and aid delivery seem to be different fields in their own respects, a nexus among the three is necessary in terms of the questions asked in this research. The framework (Figure 3.1) attempts to synthesise the ideal process in addressing gender impacts of disasters through a context-specific mainstreaming of gender needs delivered through foreign aid.
Figure 3.1: Conceptual framework of gender mainstreaming in a bilateral DRRM programme. Source: author
The framework works on the premise that the headquarters of the donor agency is executing gender mainstreaming activities in its aid programme, across its projects and operations. This includes the implementation of gender mainstreaming activities to its country offices. The framework shows that gender mainstreaming policies and strategies from the Headquarters of the donor agency should be transferred to its country office, and since literature posits that gender mainstreaming should adopt the socio-cultural context, the local settings should be integrated. Moreover, adhering to the aid effectiveness principles, the country office’s operations are required to align and integrate their priorities with its partner country. Hence, depending on the requirements and priorities on gender of the partner country, this shall be reflected accordingly within the country office’s operations and programmes. It is then necessary to streamline gender mainstreaming activities based on the context of the sector, in this case, disaster risk reduction and management. Once the appropriate gender mainstreaming activities in DRRM are carried out in the development intervention (together with the institutional and operational gender mainstreaming of the aid agency in the context of the partner country), it would be assumed that its effects will be reflected in a gender-responsive
DRRM on the ground. Detailed gender mainstreaming activities expected at each stage are summarised in Table 1.
Table 3.1: Specific mechanisms for gender mainstreaming based on the framework for a bilateral DRRM programme
Specific gender mainstreaming mechanisms
1. Headquarters
1.1 Leadership committed to gender mainstreaming
1.1.1 Mandated gender policy
1.1.2 Senior management commitment
1.2 Gender mainstreaming influences organisation’s procedures and
processes
1.2.1 Gender analysis at all project stages 1.2.2 Monitoring and evaluation frameworks 1.2.3 Collection and use of sex disaggregated data 1.2.4 Format, tools, and methods accommodate sex disaggregated data
1.2.5 Gender-sensitive language, i.e. goals, objectives, outcomes, and outputs include GAD statements
1.3 Resources for gender mainstreaming
1.3.1 Specific officers assigned to monitor and oversee gender mainstreaming (senior and junior) 1.3.2 Budget allocation for gender mainstreaming activities, including gender training and gender awareness activities
1.3.3 Gender specialists and experts
1.3.4 Research on gender issues to draw lessons in different sectors
1.3.5 Gender mainstreaming guidelines for specific sectors
1.4 Organisational incentives and accountability structures
1.4.1 Career incentives to encourage gender mainstreaming
1.4.2 Accountability mechanisms to reward or sanction staff and managers’ work and output towards gender mainstreaming
2. Country-level adoption
2.1 Gender mainstreaming policies and practices adopted from
headquarters
2.1.1 Specific mechanisms from 1.1.1 to 1.4.2 also implemented in country office
2.2 Operational gender
mainstreaming based on partner country’s own mechanism and priority integrated
2.2.1 Integrate local cultural context
2.2.2 Integrate partner country’s requirements towards gender mainstreaming of development programmes, i.e. specific toolkits, checklists, gender analysis and M&E frameworks, etc. 2.2.3 Coordination with national gender agency
3. Sector- and programme-level adoption
3.1 Institutional and operational gender mainstreaming
3.1.1 Mechanisms and activities adopted as prescribed in 2.1.1 to 2.2.2
3.1.2 Further adoption of gender mainstreaming activities based on project locale
3.2 Specific gender mainstreaming activities for DRRM
3.2.1 Development planning includes gender analysis
3.2.2 Planning tools in DRRM system uses sex disaggregated data
3.2.3 Women’s groups equally consulted 3.2.4 Women in decision making processes 3.2.5 Local emergency and recovery includes funds and plans to address women’s needs 3.2.6 Trainings on DRRM include women
3.2.7 Overall DRRM plan includes GAD statements
3.2.8 DRRM initiatives designed to equally include both genders, i.e. survival skills training, community mapping, information on disasters, design of facilities
4. Outcomes of gender mainstreaming in the community
4.1 Men and women participate equally in crucial DRRM processes
4.1.1 Men and women are equally consulted in decision making processes, i.e. DRRM plans for mitigation, preparation, relief, recovery and rehabilitation
4.1.2 Men and women participate equally in DRRM initiatives such as survival skills training, community mapping, access to information on disasters, collection of sex disaggregated data
4.2 Specific gender needs during disaster are addressed
4.2.1 Emergency and relief activities responsive to women and girls’ reproductive health needs 4.2.2 Evacuation procedures, facilities, and activities address privacy concerns
4.3 Differential impacts of disasters are minimised
4.3.1 Reduced incidence of gender-based violence, trafficking, and displaced persons
4.3.2 Livelihood opportunities given to both women and men
4.3.3 Reconstruction of facilities cater to both women and men’s needs
Source: author, drawing from Ariyabandu, 2009; Bradshaw, 2013; Commonwealth Secretariat, 1999; Enarson & Dhar Chakrabarti, 2009; Fordham, 2003; Grown et al., 2016; Holvoet & Inberg, 2014; Moser & Moser, 2005; Neumayer & Plümper, 2007; OECD, 2005;
The specific gender mainstreaming mechanisms indicated on the table are derived from the specific lessons learned and recommendations of various studies, reports, and evaluations of: 1) gender mainstreaming in donor agencies; and 2) gender mainstreaming in disaster risk reduction. However, despite the extensive review of literature on these three fields, there seems to be a research gap in examining gender mainstreaming in the context of a bilateral-assisted DRRM intervention. The previous framework is then an attempt to integrate existing frameworks for gender mainstreaming in a donor agency and gender mainstreaming in disaster risk reduction. The resulting conceptual framework will be used as a guide to answer the research questions.