Please find a selection of our past events below.
Date - July 2023
Location - Online
Description - Using insight from some of the most well-respected and influential early career researchers in the DRR field, this webinar took a look into the future and considered what our sector might look like at the end of 2030 and beyond, the potential new challenges we will face and what any Sendai Framework replacement needs to look like in order to meet the needs of our rapidly changing world.
Date - March 2023
Location - Online (not recorded)
Description - Attempting to answer some of the following questions, this event was not recorded to ensure the privacy of contributions from countries where gender & sexual minorities are penalised and discriminated against:
How should DRR/DRM and emergency professionals consider gender minorities or the needs of men and boys in disaster situations? How do societal and cultural pressures assigned to individuals and communities based on gender, impact risk reduction, preparedness and response? Does a rigid, binary definition of gender in emergency situations overlook skills, resources and knowledge that could be better utilised for a more efficient process?
Date - January 2022
Location - Online
Description - The impacts of disasters are not equal. Many sections of society are more vulnerable and exposed to the risks caused by disasters than others. Age, gender, ethnicity, income, language and multiple other aspects of our lives will impact how we respond to and recover from a disaster. However, for those groups that sit outside of the ‘mainstream’, the risks of disasters and extreme events can be even worse. One such group are those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQIA+).
Using expertise and knowledge from a mix of policy and practitioner experts within the disaster preparedness, response and recovery sector as well as a focus on discussing and promoting practical steps we can take to ensure LGBTQIA+ people are better engaged and represented within the process of reducing exposure, vulnerability and risks caused by hazards, this seminar explored what is needed to ensure a more inclusive system when considering the needs, vulnerabilities and capacities of gender and sexual minorities in disasters.
Date - July 2020
Location - Online
Description: To mark the 5th Anniversary of the campaign, the conference provided a space for discussions around the aims of the campaign and the ways in which we can achieving them as we move forward.
Date - July 2020
Location - Online
Description - The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. During that time, the average worker will use terminology relevant to their sector or industry many times a day, often without any consideration of the meaning of the term or phrase, its development or even whether the term (or phrase) itself is accurate. The use of ‘natural’ to describe disasters is one such phrase within the disaster risk reduction (DRR) and humanitarian sectors. Indeed, “natural disaster” remains the go-to phrase throughout multiple professional channels including internal/ external communications, organisational structures, general office administration and promotional literature. Building on the wider #NoNaturalDisasters campaign, this webinar has been designed to explore and provide advice on how best to educate and guide our colleagues and organisation’s to change their terminology re disasters, move away from the incorrect use of “natural disasters” and instead to focus on terms that contribute to our shared goal of reducing disaster risk.
The event was designed to provide attendees with the tools and knowledge necessary to begin the process of raising the subject of #NoNaturalDisatsers within their workplace, advocating for the removal of ‘natural’ to describe disasters in all channels of professional communication and to ultimately recognise the major role humans play in changing a hazard into a disaster.
Date - January 2019
Location - London, UK
Description - Understanding why the inclusion of so-called marginalised groups in policy and practice within disasters and humanitarian emergencies is vital to ensure an effective and equal response. Without consideration, these groups will often experience higher rates of fatalities, injuries, economic loss and take longer to recover. By using data, communication, strategy and policy-based decisions, those working in the humanitarian emergency sector can better understand and mitigate how groups often marginalised during times of disaster are assisted. This half day workshop explored the thinking and decisions necessary to build an inclusive response for all in the affected community.
Date - May 2019
Location - Geneva, Switzerland
Notes - Organised with input from UN Women, UNICEF, the UCL Gender & Disaster Centre/ GDN, Plan International and RMS
Description - Held as part of the UNDRR Global Platform.
The Sendai Framework recognises that specific groups, including women, girls, boys and persons with disabilities are disproportionally affected by disasters and have different and uneven levels of resilience and capacity to recover, due to various dimensions of inequality of risk, including gender, age, disability and income.
Using the example of women and girls, this session provided practical guidance on collecting disaggregated data, demonstrate how using such data offers a more effective response, how it can encourage greater leadership & participation from women, girls and other marginalised groups and provide information to allow a wider adoption of these methods and avoidance of costly pitfalls and unintended harm, and introduce best practices on gender-, age-, and disability-responsive DRR and resilience building to promote the collection of such data.
Date - May 2012
Location - London, UK
Description - The event was designed to provide an opportunity for discussion around how risk is percieived and considered through a gendered lens.
Focused on natural hazards and the associated risks, the event used experts in gender studies and risk management to discuss the theory and application of risk management and gender.
Date - February 2015
Location - London, UK
Description - The event was held a month before much of the UK's disaster risk reduction community flew out to Sendai, Japan for the WCDRR.
The event aimed to discuss how at-risk and marginalised groups were to be considered in a post-2015 framework arena.
Date - September 2016
Location - UN Women HQ in Manhattan
Notes - Held in association with UN Women.
Description - The event was designed to allow a better understanding on how the empowerment of women and girls feature within the 2015 UN landmark agreements (Sendai Framework, SDGs and the Paris climate agreements) and to assist the international development sector in developing a focused plan of action. The event used the expertise of four highly-respected leaders within the areas of disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, humanitarian finance and climate change adaptation. Through their presentations and the subsequent audience-led discussion and collaboration, this event provided a for key stakeholders to reach an agreed strategy to ensure a useful, usable and inclusive implementation of the landmark frameworks.