Dr Riyanti Djalante, Assistant Director for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, explains why women’s leadership can reduce vulnerability and exposure to disaster and climate risks.
"Working with women leaders at all levels, from community to regional, I’ve seen how having diverse leadership in DRR can reduce vulnerability to disaster and climate risk. They are critical actors in effectively managing risk, and in designing and implementing programmes that build the resilience of all in their communities."
"Having women as leaders of risk assessment teams, for examples, can draw out different voices that highlight different dimensions of disaster risk and adaptive capacities; while at national and regional levels, women leaders are effective in fostering cooperation across sectors to reduce risk, often bringing in sectors such as social welfare or health into critical DRR agendas."
"Although we have seen much stronger representation of women in management and leadership in recent years, many women are also still working against rigid gender norms that do not see them as leaders, or make it harder for them to reach higher leadership positions. Often the search and rescue or response sides of disaster management are more “visible”, and they are often perceived as a “man’s job”, even if there are plenty of qualified women working in these roles."
Read Dr Riyanti Djalante's full interview
Photo: UN Women
