Gender and Diversity Strategy
American Red Cross International Services
Table of Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Functional Definitions ………………………………………………………………………………………….
Relevance to Resilience ……………………………………………………………………………………….
Rationale ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Requirement ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Monitoring and Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………………….
Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Annexes ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Introduction
The American Red Cross seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. With more than a century of experience, the American Red Cross works with the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network to meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable communities. It fulfills its humanitarian mission in accordance with the seven Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality.
Among its core functions, the American Red Cross International Services Department (ARC-ISD) strives to support Host National Societies (HNS) to assist the most vulnerable people in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from man-made and natural disasters, and other challenges identified by key stakeholders including the affected communities. Neutral and impartial programs that facilitate community resilience seek to actively involve all regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In order to include the ‘whole community’[1], it is vital to understand power dynamics amongst the different demographics to promote equal participation and ensure that most vulnerable are benefitted by ARC-ISD supported programs and services. Moreover, Gender equality is critical for the ongoing progressive development of humanity – it is a fundamental human right[2].
Gender, for this document, refers to the social differences between females and males throughout their life cycles[3]. From experience and studies[4], vulnerable and marginalized people and groups such as women, children are disproportionately impacted by man-made and natural disasters. Depending on the context, other vulnerable groups can consist of men and boys, elderly, people with disabilities, chronically ill and religious or ethnic minorities. It is worth noting that economic, social and political inequalities that marginalize and exploit women can also do the same to men, especially those living in poverty or in marginalized communities[5]. Gender and diversity is a complex concept and this strategy does not aim to answer all the questions around the topic. This strategy is a living document and puts forward the rationale, one requirement, seven recommendations, existing tools and resources within and outside the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement to help project teams to facilitate inclusion and active participation from all in a target community.
Vision
To carry out its humanitarian mandate with a view toward the new Sustainable Development Goals[6], the American Red Cross supports programs that are inclusive and facilitate active participation of the marginalized populations and where possible, promote basic human rights for all in the target community. As an auxiliary to the public authorities, the organization leverages its unique status to engage in humanitarian diplomacy to persuade decision makers to act in the interests of marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by disasters, and with highest regard for the Fundamental Principles.
Functional definitions
To get clarity on basic concepts related to gender and humanitarian work, this section provides functional definitions of the key terms for the purposes of this strategy.
Sex[7] is defined as
Biological and physical differences between female and male
Gender[8]is defined as
The social differences between females and males throughout their life cycles. Although deeply rooted in every culture, these social differences between males and females are changeable over time and are different both within and between cultures. Gender determines the roles, powers and resources for females and males in any culture.
Gender Minorities[9] are defined as
An inclusive term to describe people who have gender identities, expressions, or behaviors not traditionally associated with their birth sex. An individual may identify more strongly with another gender (e.g., natal females who identify as men, natal males who identify as women) or with a variance that falls outside dichotomous gender constructions prevalent in Western cultures (e.g., individuals who feel they possess both or neither gender).
Gender Analysis[10] is defined as
The study of differences in the conditions, needs, participation rates, access to resources and development, control of resources, decision-making powers, etc. between women and men on their assigned gender roles.
Gender Equality[11] is defined as
Equality between women and men refers to the equal enjoyment by women, girls, boys and men of rights, opportunities, resources and rewards. Equality does not mean that women and men are the same but that their enjoyment of rights, opportunities and life chances is not governed or limited by whether they are female or male.
Gender Equity[12] is defined as
Fairness of treatment by gender, which may be equal treatment or treatment, which is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.
Diversity[13] is defined as
Acceptance and respect for all forms of difference. This includes, but is not limited to, differences in: gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, HIV status, socio-economic status, religion, nationality and ethnic origin (including minority and migrant groups).
Gender-based Violence[14] is defined as
An umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females. Around the world, GBV has a greater impact on women and girls than on men and boys.
Protection[15] is defined as
Taking into account particular vulnerabilities and incorporating strategies aimed at safeguarding beneficiaries from risks related to the context.
Participation[16] is defined as
Active involvement of community members in the assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation of operations to ensure adapted assistance.
Community[17] is defined in various ways. For example,
§ A group of people that live within a geographical boundary. It can be the smallest geographical unit or a cluster of units.
§ Group of people that may have shared interests or needs.
§ A mix of the two. For example, sub-groups of people having common interests within a geographical boundary.
Resilience[18]
· “The ability of individuals, communities, organizations or countries exposed to disasters, crises and underlying vulnerabilities to anticipate, prepare for, reduce the impact of, cope with and recover from the effects of shocks and stresses without compromising their long-term prospects”.
Rationale
Everyone experiences disasters in unique ways because of differences such as sex and gender roles, age, physical and mental strength, prior experience, and socio-economic status. Humanitarian assistance must be tailored, as much as possible, according to these differences in order to achieve equal outcomes for all groups[19] in a fair manner. Pre-existing inequalities in the communities occur due to a variety of reasons, including different gender roles, belief systems and related cultural practices. In the past, there has been an inconsistent focus on the inclusion of women and marginalized groups within a community in the ARC-ISD supported programs.
Gender issues gained increased attention in the humanitarian and development world in the last decades. A number of organizations have developed policies, guidance, trainings, and strategies on gender equality. In 2013, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) put forward the Strategic Framework for Gender and Diversity Issues[20]. In addition, other international legal instruments have been established that provide clear guidance and mandates for gender equality including the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995[21] and The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)[22], adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. This strategy builds on past experiences and existing guidance, particularly the IFRC Strategic Framework, and adapts it to the ARC ISD context.
Marginalization occurs at different levels, such as access to education, economic opportunities, connectedness with the rest of the community and decision making power, which may lead to human rights violations[23]. Marginalized groups including the elderly, people with disabilities, children, women, and other minorities are at a higher risk of physical, sexual, verbal and/or emotional violence. This is in particular relevant during and after a disaster, when risk of violence and further marginalization increases substantially[24]. Since a certain group in the community makes most of the decisions, the laws are often shaped to benefit their agendas and perspectives and neglect the needs and rights of the marginalized groups[25]. For example, in many countries, women do not have the right to own land or property. After the 1999 earthquake in Orissa, widows could not reclaim properties because they did not have a legal right to the property left by their husbands and a male next of kin of the deceased inherited that property. Women were oppressed and taken advantage of due discriminative practices in the society.
While women are a prime example of inequality and vulnerability to violence, those who exist outside of rigid gender structures are also equally at risk. Community members who do not conform to traditional gender roles, such as feminine men or masculine women, often face inequality and do not feel safe or have their needs met. In many contexts, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) population is extremely vulnerable to structural violence as the community is not allowed to freely open itself to outsiders and are often isolated. As a result, it is difficult to address LGBT needs or understand their issues to begin with. Non-binary persons, people in between the spectrum of male and female, often face discrimination, and lack a voice to speak out against attitudes that are prejudiced against them. There is a need to identify if there is any structural violence against any particular groups, and ensure that the interventions are modified to be inclusive programs instituted to aide whole communities.
In addition to violence and marginalization from within the communities, sometimes those who are supposed to protect and serve the most vulnerable are the ones who attack their dignity and basic rights. Unfortunately, there are reports[26] of humanitarian workers who raped or asked for sexual favors from women, girls and other gender minorities in exchange for services. There is need to take all necessary actions to prevent such actions and to educate expatriates, local staff, and volunteers on the issues related to protection of beneficiaries from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).
Organizations, such as USAID and OFDA require proposals to clearly articulate how they plan to be inclusive of the population across demographics or inequalities in the target community. As donors have limited resources, the ARC-ISD must exercise due diligence to adhere to the requirements. International humanitarian standards such as the ‘Sphere Project, Humanitarian Accountability Partnership, and the recently launched Core Humanitarian Standard’[27] recommend that humanitarian efforts must be inclusive and sensitive to marginalized groups in a community.
Relevance to Resilience
Investments in gender equality yield some of the highest developmental returns such as reduced maternal mortality, better educated and healthier children, higher household incomes and stronger economic growth – all of which collectively help in developing safer and more resilient communities[28]. ARC ISD-supported programs strive to build resilience in the target communities through the HNS and other local partners. According to the IFRC study[29], there are six factors of a resilient community: healthy/knowledgeable, connectedness, organized, economic opportunity, natural resources, and infrastructure. If certain groups are not connected, do not have equal economic opportunities, or are not knowledgeable and healthy, it is difficult for the whole community to become resilient. Therefore, it is important to include members of different groups in the process of resilience building, particularly marginalized populations, which in most cases includes women, children, elderly, people with disability and other minorities based on ethnicity, race, religion and/or sexual orientation. As mentioned before, it is also possible for men to be marginalized in certain situations. It is recommended to conduct a gender and diversity analysis in order to assess which individuals and groups are being marginalized within a community and to identify culturally appropriate ways to facilitate their active participation in the resilience building process of the community.
Women, in particular, play an important role in bringing community members together and are the conduits for knowledge sharing because of their traditional nurturing responsibilities in the community[30]. They play an important and active role in contributing to peace and resilience[31]. While women are marginalized in certain contexts, they may hold informal power that enables them to influence change from within the family, neighborhood and community structures, such as in the case of women in developing countries in regards to water management. Women and children, most often girls, are assigned the unpaid task of water retrieval, and walk hours each day collecting water needed for everyday tasks. Often, they are the sole provider of water to their family, and the most knowledgeable within a community with regard to knowing where to find water, water availability throughout the year, and daily water usage in a household[32]. In matters of WASH programs, women are the go to community members to consult because women and girls are the ones who interact with and understand water. Therefore, it is clear that women will be important agents in implementing the ‘One Billion Coalition for Resilience’[33] initiative of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Identifying and including other marginalized population will increase participation and enhance the possibility of greater community cohesion. This strategy advocates for actively involving women and other vulnerable populations in assessments, planning, implementation, and monitoring/evaluating program activities that aim to build resilience in the target community.
Requirement
- Disaggregation of data by sex: Any data collected during assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, or evaluating should be disaggregated by sex. This would include the data for both targets and actual. If the national society and their priorities so demand, sex categories can include ‘male’, ‘female’ and ‘a third option’ as some people do not identify themselves as male or female. Depending on the context, ‘the third option’ can be further defined based on the terminologies used in the target country or ‘declined to respond’ could be added, if needed.
Data disaggregation requires extra work and therefore, it is important to understand why is it important to do it and how will it help the project team to improve their impact. Key benefits of disaggregating data are: