Disasters – both natural and man-made – affect people in diverse ways. In such situations, women could become particularly vulnerable in terms of their economic as well as physical security.

thumb-reportThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) together with the Women’s Feature Service (WFS) organised the 6th Humanitarian Tiffin Talk on 20th August in New Delhi to discuss and deliberate on the topic ‘Addressing the Needs and Vulnerabilities of Women in a Post-Disaster Scenario’.

The panel of eminent speakers comprised Dr Rukmini Rao, who has been honoured as ‘Woman of the Year’ by The Week magazine, Hon’ble Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Bandana Kumari, and women’s rights activist and academic Bijayalaxmi Nanda.

Moderated by WFS Director Rakhee Bakshee, the discussion offered fresh insights and perspectives. The issues that were underlined included proper sanitation facilities, appropriate housing in disaster-prone areas, community participation in planning process, as well as mindsets of people.

Another major area where work could be done, as foregrounded in the discussions, is generating awareness and encouraging women from all communities to take up leadership roles. This would go a long way in bringing about changes at the policy level as well as implementation on the ground.

 

 

Bandana Kumari’s Key Messages for Providing and Monitoring Relief at Ground Level

 

Here are snapshots from the discussion (©ICRC, Ashish Bhatia)

ICRC New Delhi