According to the UNHCR, by the end of 2017, more than 71.44 million people live in external or internal situation of displacement, the highest number since recording begun in 1951. Women and girls make up around 50 per cent of any refugee, internally displaced or stateless population. People travelling as part of mixed movements have varying needs and may include asylum-seekers, refugees, stateless people, victims of trafficking, unaccompanied or separated children, and migrants in an irregular situation. Women´ and girls´ stronger tendency to develop PTSD may also be related to the fact that the types of traumas to which they are more frequently exposed (e.g. sexual assault and rape) are socially stigmatised and so they do not therefore receive sufficient social support. Detecting women with common mental health disorders that are severe or life-threatening is essential so that they can be connected to what limited psychiatric care is available. Screening in post-conflict and post-disaster settings where resources are severely constrained, is particularly important to achieve reasonable specificity. In this symposium we will focus on women´s mental health in humanitarian crises. The first speaker will give an overview on “Mental health of women and girls in humanitarian crises“, the second speaker will talk on „Empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian crises", while the third speaker will focus on „Preventing suicide in women and girls in humanitarian crises“ and the last speaker will present „Women’s Leadership in humanitarian crisis“. All presentations will be discussed with the plenum.
Empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian crises
Michaela Amering, Wien (Austria)
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Michaela Amering, Wien (Austria)
Objectives: Present and discuss the challenges and opportunities of empowering women and girls in humanitarian crises.
Background: The risk to fail women and girls in humanitarian crises is high.
Methods: Non-systematic review of experience and evidence on empowering women and girls in humanitarian crises
Results: Empowerment of women and girls is central for the health for all at any given time. Humanitarian crises pose a special risk for the mental health of all adults and children. Most often however, women and girls are already the most marginalized and vulnerable members of their communities, have their resources constrained and suffer differently and often to a significantly greater extent. Gender responsive humanitarian programming plays a significant role for the success of emergency responses. Core examples of tasks warranting gender-specific attention concern access to reproductive health care, protection against gender-based violence as well as consulting women and girls in recognition of their specific capabilities and needs. Recent years have brought these issues into focus and strongly impacted guidelines and programming towards focusing on gender-sensitive and equality approaches in order to strengthen crisis response. It is also noteworthy, that humanitarian crises can offer special opportunities for the empowerment of women and girls with lasting positive effects as evidenced by changes in social structures and power dynamics in post-war societies.
Conclusions: A focus on empowering women and girls strengthens the effectiveness and improves the long-term impact of interventions in reaction to humanitarian crises and can help promote additional lasting positive effects for communities and societies.