ABSTRACT
The objective of this chapter is to analyse the Global Assessment Reports on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR), published by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, from a gender perspective. These reports are a valuable tool with which to ascertain how the recommendations adopted at various world conferences with respect to disaster risk management work in practice, as well as the difficulties encountered by individual states when implementing them.
The initial results demonstrate that the incorporation of a gender perspective in this field has been neither systematic nor consistent, although a certain degree of conceptual development over time is observed. In the first instance, women are perceived as fundamentally victims of catastrophes. Later, women’s capabilities and resilience in confronting disaster are emphasised. And in the most recent report, a more integrated conception can be observed in which both dimensions, vulnerability and capability, are taken into account simultaneously.
