WUNRN
http://www.dw.de/disaster-risk-reduction-aiding-womens-groups-high-on-agenda-in-vanuatu/a-18318792
"In
every disaster, we see women make up the majority of those who lose their lives
or are affected by disaster, particularly due to a range of vulnerabilities
related to gender inequality and their overrepresentation among the poor."
Vanuatu
Cyclone Disaster - Risk Reduction -Aiding Women’s Groups
As recovery
efforts gain pace in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam tore across the archipelago,
there are lessons to be learned about disaster preparedness and the welfare of
women.
Pam left
unbelievable destruction in its wake.
In Vanuatu,
streets remain flooded and covered with debris. Power and phone lines have been
cut and water contaminated. The official toll of eight dead is feared to rise,
while tens of thousands are homeless.
Cyclone Pam
is believed to be the worst storm to hit Vanuatu since 1987, when Cylone Uma
killed dozens of people and sank ferries off the capital, Port Vila.
Australian
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced $5 million in initial relief aid to
the Pacific archipelago, while New Zealand has offered $2.5 million in
assistance.
Britain,
which jointly controled Vanuatu with France until 1980, has also offered up to
two million pounds towards the recovery effort.
Posting on
Facebook, Vanuatu's Lands Minister Ralph Regenvanu said aerial surveillance had
been carried out over Vanatu's southernmost provinces, Shefa and Tafea, with
the northern provinces to be surveyed on Tuesday.
Regenvanu
wrote that Vanuatu's two telecommunications companies, TVL and Digicel, are
working to restore service to the rest of the country. With mobile coverage
limited to Port Vila and surroundings at the moment, organizers are uncertain
about the extent of damage across the northern islands.
Once
surveillance is complete, a state of emergency - already declared in the main
island province of Shefa - could then be extended nationwide.
A number of
Australian NGOs are mobilizing to respond to Cyclone Pam. The Australian
Government has both humanitarian personnel on the ground, as well as supporting
supplies to get into Vanuatu.
Australia is
by far the largest source of foreign aid in the Pacific Islands region. The
Australian government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has come under criticism
over deep cuts to foreign aid last year.
As part of
wide ranging budget cuts, the Australian government has pulled over $11 billion
from Australia's foreign aid program over four years to offset new commitments
in defense and national security.
Women at the
forefront
Anti-poverty
agency ActionAid Australia has said they will support local women's groups
among front-line responders in the disaster relief response.
ActionAid
Deputy Executive Director Michelle Higelin says that women's organizations in
Vanuatu are well-equipped with community networks and mobilization skills.
"Unfortunately,
what they lack is the access to resources to really scale-up their
efforts," she told DW. "They also lack the ability to participate in
decision-making structures around disaster response."
"In
every disaster, we see women make up the majority of those who lose their lives
or are affected by disaster, particularly due to a range of vulnerabilities
related to gender inequality and their overrepresentation among the poor."
"We're
really concerned that we may see an increase in violence against women, which
is already high across the Pacific region."
2013's
devastating Typhoon Haiyan exacerbated the ongoing risk of sexual violence and
trafficking in the Philippines.
The United
Nations Population Fund estimated that 5,000 women were exposed to sexual
violence in the month after the typhoon alone. The damage to hundreds of health
care facilities in the Philippines left more than 270,000 pregnant women facing
heightened maternal health risks.
Higelin says
that during the Haiyan recovery, Action Aid were repeatedly told that responses
to violence against women could not be enacted until there was sufficient
evidence of that violence.
"For
us, this is unacceptable. Do we have to wait to see the reports? Do we have to
wait to see women experiencing violence in camps for displaced people? We know
this is a common occurrence in every single disaster that we've been involved
in."
"Protection
of women's rights tends to be an afterthought; it's not given immediate
attention. Governments tend to prioritize those more visible immediate relief
needs."
Disaster
preparedness
Cyclone Pam
hit as Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale attended the UN World Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan. President Lonsdale has used the
platform to appeal to the international community for support.
The
conference has seen developed and developing countries attempt to flesh out
strategies and commitments to reduce the risks posed by disasters. Cyclone Pam
has highlighted the impact that risk-reduction can have in the aftermath of
disaster and in longer-term efforts around poverty reduction.
Earlier this
month, the UN's Office for Disaster Risk Reduction announced findings that
climate-related disasters now account for 87 percent of all disaster
events.Michelle Higelin says the conference has seen an unwillingness by
developed countries to set quantifiable targets and to negotiate around financing.
"The
critically issue is about the sustained support to Vanuatu and other countries
who are experiencing the impact of disasters, which are increasingly in
frequency, scale and impact."