Lack Of Gendered Data Hampers Policy Responses To Climate Disaster, Inequalities

News Desk

Islamabad: A lack of gendered data hinders effective policy implementation to address climate disaster issues and inequalities, said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Romina Khurhsid Alam on Monday.

Speaking at the consultative workshop titled ‘Gender Policy and Economic Development: Applying the Disaster Resilience Lens’, SAPM further stated that gender inequality is an international issue that requires targeted policy interventions with a bottom-up approach.

The workshop was organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the British High Commission’s Revenue Mobilisation, Investment, and Trade (REMIT) programme.

Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Chief Ali Kemal said that gender disaggregated data was already available but a lack of evidence on the impacts of policy actions and responses was needed. Kemal added that the care economy and financial inclusion must be targeted for rural women to address social and gender inequalities.

Romina Khurshid Alam further stated that women, who make up half of the population, are crucial to the development agenda and essential for effectively catalysing change. Cooperation and knowledge exchange could strengthen responses to new and changing challenges, Alam added.

Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs Convener Romina Khurshid informed that the SDPI and the Parliamentary Taskforce on SDGs are working together to launch a regional parliamentary consortium to address gender inequality in the region.

REMIT Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)Naghma-e-Tehniat reiterated the British government’s commitment to addressing gender and climate issues. She said that since the floods in 2022, the focus has been on reviewing policies for gendered impact analysis and addressing these issues.

SDPI Joint Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed said that the need to create responses to occasional climatic events has increased with the frequency of climate disasters. Dr. Ahmed emphasised that the disaster lens for gender-focused economic development should be comprehensive and not limited to the framework of a particular ministry.

National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bilal Anwar informed that the NDRMF now ensures a gender dimension in project design and implementation, which has demonstrated success.

Bilal Anwar underlined the importance of training and capacity building to encourage partners, public and commercial organisations, and other stakeholders to take gender into account while designing and executing projects.

REMIT Gender and Social Inclusion Lead Gulalai Khan underscored the need for consolidation of efforts and data for meaningful policy making at all levels and welcomed the initiative of the SDGs consortium to focus on gender and climate at the parliamentary level.

SDPI Centre for Evidence Action Research Head Dr Fareeha Armughan stressed that the Gender Action Lab can address systematic inequalities in employment. Dr Fareeha urged coupling decent work with the Care Economy’s 3 R’s: recognise and reduce unpaid work by women and redistribute gender roles to reduce women’s vulnerability.

Leeds University, UK Prof Gary Dymski, in his presentation, highlighted that gender inequality is a multi-scalar issue exacerbated by the crisis. He suggested conducting case studies at local and urban levels to strategize the resilient socio-economic development of women.