Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management: A Focus on Aquaculture and Fishing Communities in the Philippines

This study focuses how gender dimensions affects the disaster management through looking the aquaculture and fishing communities in the Philippines. hile all residents are vulnerable to the effects of disasters, research suggests that women are disproportionately affected at all stages of disaster management: preparedness, response, and recovery. These inequities contribute to a diminished community capacity of resilience to future disasters. Results reveal that important steps are being taken to integrate gender at the DRRM programmatic level, yet gaps remain at the community level. Changes are due in part to a combination of improved policies and lessons learned from recent disaster events. Interviews across sectors and governing levels one year after devastating Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and amidst Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) offer insightful comparisons, and show that perceptions of gender differences vary significantly across social and political settings. These differing perspectives also reveal important information regarding some of the barriers to gender integration in DRRM such as evacuation protocols, recovery efforts, overall DRRM awareness, and political challenges.