The Asian Preparedness Partnership’s (APP) country and regional teams participated in a two-part workshop regarding the APP Engendering Guidelines. Nishadi Somaratne (Ph.D.), Consultant in Gender, Social Capital, and Rural Community Development, developed the guidelines and led the workshop. The sessions and guide seek to strengthen the inclusion of gender into the partnerships with the aim to eliminate gender discrimination as well as ensure gender justice.
The first session was held on 16 February 2022. It focused on introducing participants to the APP Engendering Guidelines with a focus on gender, gender mainstreaming, and the program cycle in gender mainstreaming. The session continued an overview and application to conduct a gender analysis. Dr. Somaratne elaborated on the parameters and indicators for conducting gender analysis. She also explained the concepts of equity and equality; representative content and responsive content; and affirmative actions as major tools. The workshop concluded with an introduction to a Gender Action Plan (GAP), which would be covered in the second session.
Dr. Somaratne initiated the second engendering session on 2 March 2022 with a chance for attendees to reflect on any questions they had regarding the guidelines. She continued by explaining GAP is a road map for gender activities that an institution has adopted for itself. Dr. Nishadi details how the plan is a key gender mainstreaming tool and mechanism to support the gender-inclusive design and implementation of programs and provide visibility to and accountability for gender mainstreaming. To further clarify GAP, she presented the techniques for GAP preparation; gender-sensitive training arrangments; gender-responsive training evaluation; and gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of a program.
The APP recognizes the need and right for everyone to participate in disaster management because resilient communities are one without a social or gender division. The Engendering Guidelines support the partnership’s progress towards including, voicing, and establishing the contributions and participation of all genders in the APP’s network.
Cover Photo by FreePik.
