The IASC gender handbook for humanitarian action: women, girls, boys and men - different needs and equal opportunities
In the rush to provide humanitarian response when a disaster hits or a conflict erupts, paying specific attention to gender issues may seem irrelevant. This handbook sets forth standards for the integration of gender issues from the outset of a new complex emergency or disaster, so that humanitarian services provided neither exacerbate nor inadvertently put people at risk; reach their target audience; and have maximum positive impact.
This handbook is aimed at field practitioners responding to humanitarian emergencies that result from conflict or natural hazards. However, it is also of benefit to humanitarian coordinators and others in leadership positions as it provides guidance on how to analyse the situation from a gender perspective, implement gender-aware activities and measure effectiveness. Lastly, it will also assist donors to hold humanitarian actors accountable for integrating gender perspectives and promoting equality in all aspects of their work.
The handbook outlines fundamental principles and covers specific areas of humanitarian work written in the context of gender and emergencies. These include:
- camp coordination and camp management
- education
- food issues including food insecurity, food distribution, nutrition
- health
- livelihoods
- non-food items
- registration
- shelter
- water, sanitation and hygiene
Each section is available on this website as a separate PDF and Word documents, which are smaller files and easier to download. Alternatively, the entire handbook is available as one large PDF at: http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iascweb2/downloaddoc.aspx?docID=4493&type=pdf
This handbook is also available in Arabic, Farsi, French, Mandarin and Spanish from: http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iascweb2/pageloader.aspx?page=content-products-products&productcatid=3
