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| Legarda and Mayor Lorna Silverio of San Rafael, Bulacan,. |
Senator Loren Legarda urged government to ensure that
women and girls are provided avenues to participate in order to build
disaster-resilient communities.
“Women and girls account for 52% of the world’s
population. Over 100 million of which are affected by disasters annually,”
Legarda noted.
“As they bear the impact of disasters, it is important
that we pay attention to their experience and knowledge,” she added.
Legarda, the United Nations Regional Champion for
Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, also
said that even disaster rescue efforts discriminate against women.
“In the 2006 tsunami that killed scores in Indonesia and
Sri Lanka, male survivors outnumbered its female counterparts in a 3 to 1 and 4
to 1 ratio,” she noted.
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Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate
Change, also said that in times of disaster and economic stress, women are the
primary caregivers, bearing the burden of caring for the sick and carrying out
much of the household workload after a disaster. Women have distinct
nutritional needs that make coping with disasters tougher and harsher.
“Despite these, women have been silently and effectively
at the frontline of disaster prevention and climate change adaptation efforts,”
Legarda said.
“In the Municipality of San Francisco in Camotes Island,
Cebu, which is one of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction’s 29 model communities worldwide that are exemplars in disaster risk
reduction and management, 90% of officers in charge of environmental protection
and disaster prevention programs in each and every purok are women, since most
of the male residents are focused on making a living for their families. The
Purok System focuses on mobilizing local resources in creating local and
practical solutions based on the vulnerability and unique needs of every
community. The program includes the “no trash segregation – no collection”
policy,” she added.
“Let us recognize and empower women, who are agents of
solutions, indispensable holders of valuable knowledge and skills, and able
leaders from the grassroots level to the global stage,” Legarda concluded.