Women, Girls, Boys and men - HumanitarianInfo.org

IntroDuctIon to the hAnDbook
When a disaster hits or a conflict erupts, humanitarian
actors move quickly to save lives, meet basic needs and
protect survivors. In this rush to provide humanitarian
response, the appeal to “pay attention to gender issues”
often falls on deaf ears and may seem irrelevant. It is not.
“Paying attention to gender issues” or putting on a ”gender
lens” quite simply means recognizing the different
needs, capacities and contributions of women, girls, boys
and men. Ignoring or being blind to these different needs
can have serious implications for the protection and survival
of people caught up in humanitarian crises.
This Handbook sets forth standards for the integration
of gender issues from the outset of a new complex
emergency or disaster, so that humanitarian services provided
neither exacerbate nor inadvertently put people
at risk; reach their target audience; and have maximum
positive impact.
Purpose
Prepared by members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC), this Handbook aims to provide actors in the
field with guidance on gender analysis, planning and actions
to ensure that the needs, contributions and capacities
of women, girls, boys and men are considered in all
aspects of humanitarian response. It also offers checklists
to assist in monitoring gender equality programming. The
guidelines focus on major cross-cutting issues and areas
of work in the early response phase of emergencies. The
Handbook is also a useful tool to make sure gender issues
are included in needs assessments, contingency planning
and evaluations. It can be used as a tool to mainstreaming
gender as a cross-cutting issue in the sectors/clusters. If
used correctly, this Handbook will help promote the ultimate
goal of protecting and promoting the human rights
of women, girls, boys and men in humanitarian action
and advancing the goal of gender equality.
Section A should be studied by all readers and
used in combination with the specific sector
chapters in Section B.
Aud ence
The target audience for this Handbook is field practitioners
responding to humanitarian emergencies that result
from conflict or natural hazards. In particular, the Handbook
targets sector/cluster actors. Humanitarian Coordinators
and others in leadership positions will also benefit
from this tool as it provides guidance on how to analyse
the situation from a gender perspective, implement
gender-aware activities and measure effectiveness. The
Handbook will also assist donors to hold humanitarian actors
accountable for integrating gender perspectives and
promoting equality in all aspects of their work.
The phrase “women, girls, boys and men” as used
throughout this Handbook refers to young and
old across the life cycle.
Structure
The Handbook is divided into two sections:
Sect on A: Fundamental Pr nc ples
This section includes four chapters covering the core principles,
mandates, definitions and frameworks for gender
equality:
Basics of Gender in Emergencies sets forth the overarching
framework of gender equality programming in humanitarian
action. It defines terms and explains the relevance
of gender equality in crisis situations.
International Legal Framework for Protection provides
information on mandates coming from human rights, humanitarian
and refugee law.
Coordination on Gender Equality in Emergencies describes
the elements of effective coordination and the
establishment of gender networks in emergencies.
Participation in Humanitarian Action discusses the importance
of ensuring the equal participation of women,
girls, boys and men in all aspects of humanitarian action,
provides participation standards and gives examples on
“how to” do participation in crisis.
I n T R o d u C T I o n T o T H e H A n d b o o k
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