Gender Equality Committee highlights importance of the gender perspective in natural disasters in Bosnia and Herzegovina

SARAJEVO, 10 March 2015 – The gender perspective in natural disasters was the focus of the session of the Gender Equality Committee held today at the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in Sarajevo. The session was held as part of Gender Equality Week, an initiative supported by the OSCE Mission.

“As neither analysis nor practices take into account that natural disasters particularly affect women and girls, today’s session served as the forum for exchange of information and discussion on how to approach this issue in a comprehensive manner,” said Mirsad Isaković, Chair of the Gender Equality Committee.

The Gender Centres of both Republika Srpska and Federation of BiH have developed special action plans which incorporate a gender perspective in responding to natural disasters, based on the lessons learned from the experiences from the floods that hit BiH in May 2014. 

“I hope these action plans will serve as guidance in the future to all relevant stakeholders in BiH. By doing so, we hope to approach the issue of gender in natural disasters more adequately,” said Samra Filipović Hadžiabdić, Director of the Agency for Gender Equality of BiH.

Alexander Chuplygin, Acting Head of OSCE Mission to BiH, said: “We all need to take responsibility to address the inequalities and I hope recommendations made today will be fully incorporated into the response and recovery plans that are currently being revised.”

Today’s event is part of a series of activities being organized across the country from 9 to 13 March as part of Gender Equality Week, which aims to promote and strengthen the role of women in all aspects of life in BiH.

Gender Equality Week is a joint initiative of the Agency for Gender Equality of BiH and the Gender Equality Committee of the BiH House of Representatives, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission.

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