Gender Equity
Gender equity influences household and community resilience by increasing everyone’s ability to cope with shocks.
Gender-based inequalities and vulnerabilities impact people’s exposure to shocks and access to resources to manage them.
Approach
There are notable gender-based differences in vulnerability, mobility, time use, and ownership/control of financial resources. All of this affects how people cope with a particular shock or stress.
Men and women can experience vulnerability from different sources. Men are generally more vulnerable to migration risks and recruitment to extremist groups. Women often have less control over assets and face biology-related vulnerabilities. These differences affect their response to shocks. For example, women are more likely to adjust consumption patterns following a shock or stress—by eating less preferred foods and/or reducing consumption which can adversely impact maternal and child nutrition. Women are more reticent than men to use their assets to manage shocks and stresses, for fear of falling into chronic poverty.
Empowering women has been found to be particularly influential to household resilience. Women with higher levels of empowerment are less likely to use negative coping mechanisms. Households where women have more decision-making power are more likely to have more food security and social capital.
Evidence
A growing body of evidence shows the importance of women’s empowerment as a resilience capacity. Following 2014 flooding exposure, Bangladeshi women with high empowerment maintained household food security longer than women with low empowerment scores. A study in Somalia found similar results. Women’s empowerment was significantly and positively associated with proactive coping strategies.
Current research has almost exclusively focused on women’s empowerment in building resilience. Future research should focus on differentiating vulnerabilities and capacities of men and boys as well. This may help us better understand how gender dynamics interact with resilience.
Featured Resources
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The brief focuses on programmatic shifts at the intersection of resilience, gender equity, and social inclusion, which are essential in...
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Populations around the world work every day at maintaining a level of stability in their lives as they face ongoing challenges linked to poverty....
More Resources
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The brief focuses on programmatic shifts at the intersection of resilience, gender equity, and social inclusion, which are essential in situations like the 2004 tsunami or extreme drought conditions. Sourced from existing literature and the growing evidence base of what works, this brief...
Gender EquitySocial Inclusion -
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The objective of this research is to provide implementing partners, the Office of Food for Peace (FFP), the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project, and the United States Agency for International Development/Center for Resilience (C4R) with insights into factors that strengthen...
NutritionEvidence and AnalysisDiversify Livelihood RisksGender EquityMali -
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Populations around the world work every day at maintaining a level of stability in their lives as they face ongoing challenges linked to poverty. With or without the necessary resources, they do their best to feed their families, maintain a roof over their heads, and provide a sense of safety...
Evidence and AnalysisGender Equity -
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The evidence, and the resulting discussion, presented during the 2017 Resilience Evidence Forum — hosted in Washington D.C. by the USAID Center for Resilience — are presented in the Resilience Evidence Forum Report.
Conflict and FragilityUrban ContextCollaboration and Collective ImpactValue for MoneySustainable Poverty EscapesDiversify Livelihood RisksSocial ProtectionGraduationSocial CapitalFinancial InclusionHuman CapitalAspirationsGender EquitySocial InclusionEcosystems and Natural Resource Management -
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Productive asset transfer programs, often involving livestock, are a popular antipoverty program globally. In a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the impacts of a Heifer International asset transfer program in Nepal.
Gender EquityNepal -
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This white paper explores the interaction between education and resilience and presents several recommendations on policy and programming.
Conflict and FragilityEducationSystemsSocial CapitalHuman CapitalGender Equity -
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Gender inequality can undermine efforts to enhance resilience capacity. In this study we explored both gender inequality in Hausa communities in southern Niger and the meaning of women’s empowerment in this context.
Gender EquityNiger -
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The 2019 SEEP Annual Conference theme – Building Resilience through Market Systems – will highlight proven and experimental strategies that harness the potential of the market to support people, enterprises and communities that are highly vulnerable to the shock-stress-shock...
SystemsDiversify Livelihood RisksGender EquityAccess to Markets -
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Populations around the world work every day at maintaining a level of stability in their lives as they face ongoing challenges linked to poverty. With or without the necessary resources, they do their best to feed their families, maintain a roof over their heads, and provide a sense of safety...
Evidence and AnalysisGender Equity -
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This synthesis paper reviews 20 years of research and focuses on the increasing socioeconomic differentiation in selected pastoralist areas, and the implications in terms of pathways to resilience.
HealthEducationDiversify Livelihood RisksSocial CapitalGender EquitySouth SudanKenyaEthiopiaUgandaSomalia