Policy brief: how should the new international disaster risk framework address gender equality?

This policy brief presents a gender perspective of disaster risk reduction and highlights how hazards affect men and women, and boys and girls, differently. It argues that tackling gender inequality is a key component of reducing disaster risks and a cross-cutting issue of the Hyogo Framework for Action. The policy brief suggests that policy-makers must recognise and act upon existing grassroots mechanisms to enhance communities’ capacities to deal with disaster risks.