Integrating rights and equality in disaster risk reduction and climate resilience

This brief presents the Framework for Integrating Rights and Equality (FIRE) and its applications in the Building Resilience through Inclusive and Climate-adaptive Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia-Pacific (BRDR) Program. The FIRE approach, consisting of six dimensions, is intended as a guiding framework for DRR and CR decision-makers at national, sub-national and local levels to use in the development and implementation of laws, policies, procedures and practices related to DRR and CR.

The three key messages of this brief are:

1. Integrating rights and equality into risk assessments for DRR and CR enables the identification of who is vulnerable; what they vulnerable to; and crucially, why they are vulnerable. To holistically assess risks, there is a need for more inclusive approaches that prioritize understanding the root causes of risk which shape the differentiated vulnerability and exposure of women, girls, boys and men.
2. To address the root causes of unequal distribution of risk and vulnerability across spatial scales, development and land-use planning processes must not only be risk-informed, but also informed by rights and equality principles and analyses based on the realities of women, girls, boys and men.
3. Disaster preparedness and response interventions must integrate rights and equality considerations from design through implementation to evaluation. Action should be rooted in local contexts and people’s realities, including gender norms and power dynamics, and guided by key principles including, active and meaningful participation, non- discrimination, and protection of fundamental rights and equality.