Humanitarian Response & Early Recovery

Since the United Nations launched humanitarian reform in 2005, the work of humanitarian organizations in responding to emergencies and on early recovery efforts is normally organized around clusters, to improve coordination among actors from inside and outside the UN system.

In recent years, the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has taken important steps to strengthen predictability and accountability of humanitarian assistance. To this end, the IASC has delegated specific agencies to lead the coordination of activities for each of the eleven global clusters: Agriculture; Camp Coordination & Management; Early Recovery; Education; Emergency Shelter; Emergency Telecommunications; Health; Logistics; Nutrition; Protection; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

The IASC has also identified a number of cross-cutting issues. One of them is gender, for which the Sub-Working Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action has been established to develop long- and medium-term policy. The IASC Gender Standby Capacity (GenCap) project seeks to build the capacity of humanitarian actors at the country level to mainstream gender equality programming into all sectors of humanitarian response.

In addition, gender-related matters are addressed within a number of the clusters and issues. For example, the Protection Cluster Working Group, chaired by UNHCR, has assigned Gender-Based Violence as a certain Area of Responsibility. Through these mechanisms, women’s concerns and gender perspectives are beginning to be addressed more effectively in humanitarian settings.

Opportunities in Early Recovery

As humanitarian situations begin to stabilize, attention turns to early recovery processes, which are directed by the Cluster Working Group on Early Recovery. Early recovery efforts aim to augment ongoing humanitarian operations and develop longer-term sustainable solutions, by supporting spontaneous community-driven initiatives and the development of local capacities.

Early recovery activities typically fall into five broad categories:

• Restoring and strengthening governance, including developing the capacities of government institutions and civil society organizations.
• Meeting basic needs and protecting basic rights, including providing shelter, health care, food and security.
• Developing sustainable livelihoods that help local populations return to self-reliance after conflict.
• Establishing long-term solutions, including supporting the return and reintegration of displaced populations.
• Building social cohesion, including through the establishment of reconciliation processes and other confidence-building measures.

Early recovery efforts can play a critical role in mobilizing locally owned rebuilding processes, establishing the foundations for sustainable development, and shaping social change. As such, they present important opportunities to promote gender equality in conflict-affected countries. However, these opportunities are often lost because gender issues tend to be given low priority when recovery begins. Failure to include gender perspectives early in decision-making processes can have long-lasting impacts on women, particularly in the context of governance structures, policies and practices, which can reinforce existing socio-economic disparities between men and women.

UN Women’s Approach

UN Women advocates for early and consistent inclusion of women and gender perspectives in all aspects of humanitarian response and early recovery, including by:

• Supporting women’s inclusion in donor conferences, such as the London Conference for Afghanistan in 2010 and the Oslo Conference for Sudan in 2005, to highlight the importance of responding to women’s needs and priorites.
• Calling for women’s participation in all decision-making processes;
• Collaborating with other UN entities in the development of gender-sensitive approaches to peacebuilding;
• Supporting the development of local women’s networks and building their capacity to engage in early recovery processes; and
• Developing analytical tools for assessing women’s specific needs during early recovery and establishing an inventory of best practices.

UN Women has, for example, participated in the development of IASC guidelines on gender-based violence and on gender mainstreaming in humanitarian settings. UN Women also participates on several IASC committees, including the Sub-Working Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action, the Sub-Working Group on Gender-Based Violence within the Protection Cluster, and the GenCap project.

At the country level, UN Women has worked closely with other UN agencies in Darfur to mainstream gender into all aspects of humanitarian relief, including through the development of guidance materials and gender-sensitive indicators. In the occupied Palestinian territories, UNIFEM (now UN Women) produced a guidebook for humanitarian practitioners on how to address gender gaps in post-conflict relief efforts. UN Women has also hosted multi-stakeholder dialogues on gender-sensitive responses to humanitarian crises and the inclusion of women in peace processes, for example with representatives from central and local government and civil society in Pakistan.