Women as Agents of Resilience: Roles in Community-Based Flood Risk Reduction in the Apayao-Abulug River Basin, Philippines

Abstract

This study examined the roles of women as agents of resilience in community-based flood risk management (CBFRM) by re-analyzing the CBFRMP-AARB. A qualitative secondary analysis was done which indicated that women shouldered a lot of responsibilities in different ways: they were the first responders within households personally, they organized these activities both in terms of caregiving and relief at the community level, they got environmental stewardship involved, they made livelihood establishment possible through their involvement, and brought in their own indigenous knowledge set. However, women’s involvement was limited due to socio-political factors that created systemic barriers. Such barriers included the low number of women in local disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) councils, deep-rooted cultural norms, restricted training opportunities, and the weak localization of national gender-responsive policies. The analysis highlights the double vulnerability of women, who are disaster survivors and, at the same time, discharging the role of caregivers. Notwithstanding, there are opportunities to promote inclusion through the institution of women’s representation at the decision-making level, capacity-building, supporting women’s groups, and localizing national mandates such as RA 10121 and RA 9729 into municipal ordinances. Working this local aspect into the international commitments, particularly the Sendai Framework, and SDG 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals can provide a better way to gender-responsive governance. This puts women no longer as passive victims but as actors that can change the course of events and thus need to be implemented in disaster governance for better and long-lasting flood risk reduction programs..