Background

The International Federation of Red Cross and RedCrescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest huma-nitarian and development network, with millions ofvolunteers in 189member National Societies.With amandate to prevent and alleviate human sufferingwithout discrimination and to protect human dignity,gender and diversity are fundamental aspects of RedCrossRedCrescentactivitiesworldwide.

Fromdisastermanagementtohealthprogramming,theRedCrossRedCrescentrecognizesthatmenandwomenhave different capacities, strengths, needs and vulne-rabilities,whichcanimpactresiliencetodisastersandcrises. The IFRC is guided in its work on gender anddiversitythroughthefollowing:

The Fundamental Principle of Impartiality: TheInterna-tionalRedCrossandRedCrescentMovementmakesno

‘Sex’ referstothebiologicaldifferencesbetweenmenandwomen.

‘Gender’referstothesocialdifferencesbetweenmenandwomen.

‘Diversity’referstotheunderstandingofdifferencesbetweenpeopleandrespectingthosedifferences.Thesedifferencescanbephysicalorsocialandcaninclude:gender,sexualorientation,age,disability,HIVstatus,socio-economicstatus,religion,nationalityandethnicorigin.

discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs,class or political opinions. It endeavors to relieve thesuffering of individuals, being guided solely by theirneeds, and to give priority to the most urgent casesofdistress.

Strategy 2020: Strategy2020strivesforequalitywithintheorganizationanditswork,by“ensuringthatthereisnogender-basedorotherdiscrimination inourpoliciesand practices, and enabling greater participation byvulnerablepeople.”

IFRC Strategic Framework on Gender and Diversity Issues 2013-2020: Provides strategic direction to theIFRCanditsmemberNationalSocietiesbyencouragingandpromotinggenderequalityandrespectfordiversity.

‘Gender and diversity equality’referstobothmenandwomenhavingthefreedomtomakechoices,toprogressandtodevelop,withoutbeingrestrictedbytherolesorexpectationsplacedonthembecauseoftheir‘gender’.Menandwomendonothavetobethesame,buttheyshouldhaveequalrights,responsibilitiesandopportunities.

Above: The Myanmar Red Cross conducts training on what to do before and during a disaster, with a focus on fire prevention. Credit: Mandy George / IFRC

Gender and Diversity IFRC South-East Asia regional delegation

2International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Gender and Diversity IFRC South-East Asia regional delegation

Mainstreaming gender and diversity

Gender and diversity is an essential part of IFRC pro-gramming. It allows National Societies to ensure theireffectivenessandreachinhelpingthosemostvulnerable.Gender and diversity is currently beingmainstreamedthroughthefollowingareas:

Disaster risk reduction, disaster management, climate change and resilience

• Buildingregionalcapacityandcollaborationforcom-munityresiliencethroughagender-anddiversity-sen-sitiveapproachtodisasterriskreduction.

• A ‘resilience house model’ was developed to guideNationalSocieties inSoutheastAsiaastheydeveloptheir programs; themodel placesNational Societiesand youth development as the foundation; disastermanagementandhealthasthepillars;andgenderasacrosscuttingissue.

• Commitment towards the ‘One Billion Coalition’which aims tomobilise one billion people to createsafer andmore resilient communities by 2025.Thiscampaignwillreachouttoallcommunities,inclusiveofage,genderanddiversity.

• Aregional“ClimateChangeMasterTrainingofTrainers”was organized in September 2014 to supportmain-streamingofgenderanddiversityinto‘climatesmart’projectactivitiesinSoutheastAsia.

• The inclusion of gender, age, disability and culturalperspectivesindisasterriskpoliciesandpractices,isinsupportofthecommitmentsoftheSendaiFrame-workforDisasterRiskReduction2015-2030.

• Ensuringagenderanddiversityapproachinallstagesofthedisastermanagementcycle.Capacitybuildingon gender and diversity was conducted for profes-sionalsfromNationalDisasterManagementOfficesofASEAN member states, as part of the AHA CentreExecutive(ACE)PrograminApril2015.

Migration

• Advocating for the increased assistance, empower-mentandprotectionofmigrantrights,particularlyingender-sensitive approaches to labor migration andanti-trafficking betweenAsia Pacific and theMiddleEastNorthAfricaregions.

• Strengthening humanitarian services available tomigrants,specificallyfemaledomesticworkers,beforetheirdepartureanduponarrivalalongwithkeypart-nersinthehumanitarianfieldaswellasgovernment.

• Organizingaseriesofmigration-relatedeventsundertheRedCrossRedCrescentDohaDialogueonMigra-tion. These bring together stakeholders to addressrelevantlaborlaws,policiesandprogramstoprotectthe rights and interests of migrants with a specificfocusonfemalelabormigration.

Violence Prevention

• Violenceprevention,mitigationandresponseisbeingaddressed as part of IFRC’s work on migration,particularlywithregardstoreducingvulnerabilitiesoflabormigrants,especiallyfemalemigrants.

• IFRCisworkingtoharnessthecapacityoftheyouthtobecomeleadersandadvocatesforviolencepreventionin theirNational Societies and communities.This isbeingachievedthroughtrainingintheprogram,YouthasAgents of Behavioral Change, aswell as throughthe Southeast Asia Red Cross Red Crescent YouthNetwork.

• AnumberofNationalSocietiesinSoutheastAsiaareimplementingtheCommunity-BasedHealthandFirstAid (CBHFA) approach to communityhealth progra-ming.This approach has been developed to includemodules on ‘violence prevention’ and ‘healthy life-style.’Thesemoduleswillfurthercontributetoensurethemostat-riskgroupsarereached.

“Empower women and girls and enlist the support of men and boys to promote a culture of non-violence and peace” IFRC Eliminating health inequities: Every woman and every child counts (2011)

“Building on women’s knowledge and experience creates opportunities for the whole community” The Gender Advantage: Women on the front line of climate change. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) 2014

“...when gender equality is actively promoted, it can positively transform and enhance individual lives as well as societies as a whole” IFRC Strategic Framework on Gender and Diversity Issues 2013- 2020

“Paying attention to gender issues ...means recognizing the different needs, capacities and contributions of women, girls, boys and men.” Inter-agency Standing Committee Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action 2006

3International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Gender and Diversity IFRC South-East Asia regional delegation

Training

Review or development of gender policies and strategies

Gender and Diversity Focal Point/Representative

Tools development

Research and/or analysis

Workshop

Awareness raising in National Society

Myanmar

Thailand

Cambodia

MyanmarLaos

Thailand Vietnam

Cambodia

BruneiMalaysia

Philippines

Indonesia

Indonesia

Malaysia

Brunei

Philippines

Vietnam

Lao PDR

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste

Singapore

Singapore

Range of activities planned for 2015 and 2016

National Red Cross and Red Crescent Society activities

Maria Redubla Liporada smiles as she serves her neighbours rice cakes. Maria is a mother of two, and through the Red Cross livelihood conditional cash support programme, she was able to turn her of love of cooking into a small business to support her family. Credit: Cheryl Gagalac / IFRC

4International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Gender and Diversity IFRC South-East Asia regional delegation

Singapore Red Cross conducts first aid training courses for people who look after elderly friends, relatives and neighbours. Credit: Singapore Red Cross

What else can be done?

• Conductmappingexercisestoidentifywhethergenderanddiversityisbeingconsideredacross-cuttingissue;evaluateif it isbeingeffectivelymainstreamedinallareasofRedCrossRedCrescentprograms.

• AssignaGenderandDiversityFocalPointorRepresen-tativewhocanco-ordinateandfacilitategenderanddiversityworkwithintheNationalSociety.

• Advocate and communicate about the importanceof promoting gender and diversity-relatedwork at acommunitytonationallevel.

• Conduct a gender audit to identify whether genderanddiversityisbeingrepresentedandrespectedatalllevels.Ifnot,trytodiscusswaystochangethis.

• Engagewithyouthandvolunteerstoadoptgenderanddiversityapproacheswithinallaspectsoftheirwork.

Current collaboration and partners

TheIFRCbuildspartnershipswithintheglobalRedCrossRedCrescentnetwork,aswellaswithexternalorganiza-tions.CurrentcollaborationandpartnershipsintheregionofSoutheastAsiaarehighlightedbelow.Furtheroppor-tunitiesarebeingexploredonanon-goingbasis.

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

CanadianRedCrosswithsupportoftheCanadianGovernment,FrenchRedCross,NorwegianRedCross,PhilippineRedCross,QatarRedCrescent,InternationalCommitteeoftheRedCross(ICRC),Asia-PacificMigrationNetwork

External

AssociationofSoutheastAsianNations(ASEAN),ASEANCentreforHumanitarianAssistance(AHA),AsianDisasterPreparednessCentre(ADPC),EuropeanUnion,UNWomen

For further information on gender and diversity in Southeast Asia, please contact:

Ms. Christina Haneef, Southeast Asia Regional Gender and Diversity OfficerSoutheast Asia Regional DelegationE-mail: christina.haneef@ifrc.orgPhone: +66 2661 8201 (Ext: 104)

For further information on gender and diversity in Asia and the Pacific, please contact:

Ms. May MaloneyAsia Pacific Gender and Diversity AdvisorAsia Pacific Zone OfficeEmail: may.maloney@ifrc.org Phone: +60 3 9207 5819

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