GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

Case study 2
Gender roles in disasters in Pacific Island countries
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Community consultations on disaster
prevention in Samoa, Solomon Islands, Fiji
and Kiribati revealed disparities in how women
and men perceive and approach disasters
and preparedness. The consultations were
part of a study to improve understanding of
the relative status, roles and responsibilities of
women and men in Pacific Island households
and communities, with the objective of
designing more gender-inclusive strategies
and programmes, and enabling women to
be mainstreamed into disaster management
programmes at local, national and regional
levels.
Methodology
While the division of labour between men
and women varies quite markedly within
and between Pacific Island countries, the
most significant fact about gendered roles
revealed by this study is that a line is drawn
in all countries between private versus public,
or informal versus formal, authority. In all
countries, with few exceptions, women are
assigned the domestic sphere, making sure
that everyone’s physical needs are met and
that children and old people are cared for; that
there is enough water, fuel, food, bedding,
mats, essential household goods and clothing;
and that the house, household belongings and
compound are clean. Men make decisions in
the public sphere (i.e., about relations between
the family and other families, the extended
family, the village, the district, the province
and the government). In Samoa, women have
more public authority than in other countries,
although this is confined to decision making
within the defined women’s sphere of water,
health, hygiene, beautification and hospitality.
However the increasing role of the state in
providing water and sanitation services, and
the growing centralization of health services,
means that women’s responsibilities in
these areas are decreasing; water supply is
gradually becoming incorporated into national
infrastructure under the water authority, and
these issues have shifted to the National
Committee of pulenu’u (village mayors) monthly
meetings with government agencies.
In Fiji, Solomon Islands and Kiribati, women’s
associations don’t have much local authority,
but some have considerable influence. They are
typically community-based, linked to churches;
often with affiliations to various NGOs. The
male monopoly of decision making outside the
home is a significant fact to be recognized for
disaster management. Disaster prevention will
be less effective because it will not address
practical measures for household preparation.
By including women in disaster management
planning and decision making, better results
will be achieved.
When men and women were formally
asked who makes decisions about the use of
household resources, such as labour allocation,
goods and money, men were most likely to say
that decisions were made by the (male) head