Publication
In brief: gender-responsive disaster risk reduction: a multi-level approach to resilience
October 2025
Disasters disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly in fragile and climate-vulnerable contexts where systemic inequalities limit their resilience. While the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and COP climate outcomes emphasise inclusion, gaps remain in how gender equality is operationalised.
The Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) programme financed by the Government of Australia and implemented by UN Women demonstrates a transformative approach: a multi-level model that connects local action, national policy regional solidarity, and global influence. Implemented in Pacific, WRD strengthens women’s leadership, economic empowerment, and participation in DRR at local, national, regional, and global levels.
This brief builds on the WRD Good Practices Paper (2025) to highlight how WRD applied a multi-level approach to gender-responsive DRR. It extracts good practices that can be adapted to different contexts, identifies entry points relevant to donors, governments, UN agencies, and women’s organisations, and provides practical lessons that can inform future resilience-building efforts.
