Key Recommendations for Gender Equality Mainstreaming in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Humanitarian Response: Lessons from the earthquakes in Nepal

The earthquakes in Nepal between April and May 2015 led to significant loss of life, injuries, and damage of buildings and infrastructure. The impact of the disaster further exacerbated pre-earthquake inequalities based on gender, age, caste, ethnicity and marital status. To ensure mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the humanitarian response, the Humanitarian Country Team committed itself to seven key advocacy messages. The Flash Appeal for the Nepal Earthquake emphasized these commitments. This advocacy brief is derived primarily from the reflections of gender equality mainstreaming efforts during the earthquake response. In doing so, it builds upon existing development strategies implemented through coordinated response mechanisms in compliance with commitments to normative frameworks by the Government of Nepal. As the country marks six months after the April earthquake, the purpose of the four key recommendations made here targeting the Government of Nepal, UN, I/NGOs and the donor community, is to identify concrete, critical and feasible actions that serve to integrate gender equality within reconstruction priorities, as well as support gender responsive disaster risk reduction.