Learning from Irma and Maria: mainstreaming protection and inclusion in disaster risk reduction in the caribbean

Abstract

Introduction: it is made a proposal to local governments to improve the protection and inclusion of the most vulnerable people in emergency and/or disaster response operations, addressing the gaps identified during hurricanes Irma and Maria. It provides methodological tools, with an intersectionality approach, for the mitigation of gender-specific inequalities, by disability and age, as a consequence of mobilities induced by adverse weather events.

Methods: It was used a case study, focusing on the socio-economic dynamics of the territories. It included the identification and review of documents and the selection of communities, based on the criterion of having been affected by a disaster or emergency, for which the population had to, temporarily or permanently, leave their homes. They were identified the key actors involved in risk management and their previously identified roles, based on their functions in the decision-making process at the government and community levels. It was carried out intersectional analysis of inequalities.

Results: Methodology for addressing equity gaps by gender, age and disability status as consequences of induced mobility in disaster environments; Key actors sensitized and trained; Six case studies of people living in areas recurrently affected by the impact of extreme hydrometeorological disasters; Three files on successful risk management experiences where the protagonists have been women/girls.

Conclusions: the study provides a novel perspective by unveiling elements on the differentiated impact of disasters on vulnerable groups, specifically women, people with disabilities, older adults and children, from the use of the methodological perspective of intersectionality, focusing the analysis on the pre-existing limitations and capacities of people and groups of people in emergency and/or disaster contexts.