Emergency Settlement Project
Project | Conference | Proceedings | UW-DMC
Project | Conference | Proceedings | UW-DMC
More than 75 women and men from around the world attended a one-day workshop on "Women's Issues in Emergency Settlement" in Madison, Wisconsin on 20 April 1996 as part of the First International Emergency Settlement Conference. These activities were held with support from The Ford Foundation, InterWorks, United Nations Development Program and the University of Wisconsin Anonymous Fund. The workshop was sponsored by the University of Wisconsin - Women's Studies Program/Women's Studies Research Center and the University of Wisconsin-Disaster Management Center (UW-DMC).
Led by Mary Anderson of the Collaborative for Development Action (Cambridge, MA) and Tim Brodhead, President of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation (Montreal), this workshop was designed to provide a forum for discussing the gender issues contained in all aspects of emergency relief and development. Conference participants representing a wide range of organizations (including United Nations agencies such as UNDP, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, FAO, national Red Cross Societies, USAID, IOM, CARE, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, universities and government ministries) contributed a wealth of practical field experience to the day-long discussion. The workshop was introduced on 19 April with an evening public lecture entitled "Refugee Women in Emergencies," presented by Ann Howarth-Wiles, the senior advisor for women's issues from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).
Building on the other 24 workshop sessions of the International Emergency Settlement Conference, workshop leaders introduced case studies of real-life emergency situations to stimulate discussion about how best to include women's issues in operational decision-making. They presented the framework of "People-Oriented Planning" as a practical planning tool for maximizing the potential benefits of humanitarian assistance and avoiding life-threatening mistakes. This planning framework relies upon three steps:
These steps guarantee that all women, men and children in emergency situations are properly accounted for, thereby ensuring that programming is relevant and effective.
The importance of involving the women and men from the affected population in all aspects of planning and implementing emergency assistance was highlighted. Workshop participants had the opportunity to hone and develop their own capacities in gender analysis and gender awareness through small and large group exercises.
This workshop was one component of the Emergency Settlement Project, a joint effort of InterWorks and the University of Wisconsin Disaster Management Center to initiate and maintain a comprehensive discussion on issues affecting emergency settlements. The international conference, the workshops and the publication of twenty-four topic papers as preliminary conference proceedings constitute a first phase of the project.
With the end goal of collecting and disseminating knowledge to a wider international humanitarian assistance community, future plans for the Emergency Settlement Project include developing learning modules, self-study courses, training curricula, workshops and an interactive World Wide Web site based on the workshop discussions already begun.
from Marcy Ostrom
© 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Last Modified 07 October 1996