“……..Women are more vulnerable during disasters because they have less access to resources, are victims of the gendered division of labor and the primary caregivers to children, the elderly and the disabled….”
These were some observations that were echoed after the Indian Ocean tsunami and can be related to the floods that have affected Pakistan, where more than 160,000 sq. km of land – an area the size of Belgium, Austria and Switzerland combined – has been affected. In times of natural calamities, the response and aid that is offered to the affected areas is often broad-ranged and it is worrying to learn that there is no specific aid that is offered to women and children.
According to the Reproductive Health Response in Crisis Consortium (RHRC), 85% of the persons displaced by floods comprise of women and children. Reproductive health is perhaps amongst the gravest of concerns as the WHO has speculated that around half a million flood affected women are to give birth during the next six months. These figures are alarming on a multi-faceted level as most mothers in this situation would be forced to give birth in temporary shelters or tents, with minimum or no access to clean water or healthcare. Bearing in mind the patriarchal structure of society, it is often difficult, and at times impossible, for women to receive aid and medical care from male relief workers. For a country that has an existing high infant mortality rate, with one in 20 babies dying before turning a month old, such a situation could have catastrophic effects.
In its efforts to ensure that women and children are given special priority in the flood affected areas, a situation analysis in the Charsaddah district of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa was undertaken by a leading social sector NGO. The fear of women and children being neglected was corroborated by their visit as it was seen that the supplies to the districts were not gender considerate. Due to women observing purdah, it is difficult for them to ask for essentials, especially sanitary kits for themselves and a lack of separate toilets further intensifies their plight. While visiting the toilets in the darkness, women are also engulfed by the fear of being sexually assaulted as a report from the Global Fund for Women (December 2005) reiterates that during the chaos and social breakdown that accompanies natural disasters, women become more vulnerable to sexual abuse. Women are also concerned about their children as they lack diapers, baby food and clothes. Stefano Savi, the head of the UNICEF office in Quetta, has stated that if the nutrition activities are not scaled up, the lives of thousands of children are at risk. To name a few, malnutrition, scabies and gastroenteritis are some diseases that are expected to spread under the prevailing conditions.
Several organisations are therefore focusing on the Charsaddah district and aim to extend their initiatives to other areas such as Muzaffargarh. The first distribution took place on August 28, 2010 and reached out to 166 families. There are plans to extend these relief efforts to an additional 240 in the following months. While collaborating with the local government authorities, food kits, women supply kits, newborn baby kits and hygiene kits will be distributed to ensure that this vulnerable section of the population is well catered to. Activities will focus on ensuring that the relief goods are handed over to the women in the camps and are not received by their brothers or husbands. Male members of the flood affected localities are being targetted through special outreach activities to emphasise on the special requirements of women so that they allow doctors and workers to access them easily.
This two-pronged objective of contributing towards the reduction of gender based violence (GBV), food security and promotion of safe hygiene practices among women and children can help mitigate the harshness of the floods by ensuring that the humanitarian response is gender sensitive.