UNDRR at the 2022 Commission on the Status for Women (CSW66)

From 14 to 25 March 2022, the sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) is taking place in New York.

It is the first time that disaster risk reduction has been considered within the Priority Theme of the CSW, "Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.”  CSW66 will shine a spotlight on tackling structural gender inequalities that put women at higher risk to disasters, and their important role as agents of change in disaster risk reduction.

UNDRR is engaging across the CSW66, calling for a gender-responsive approach to disaster risk reduction and risk-informed development, a key enabler to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Ahead of the 2023 Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework 2015-2030, now is the moment to accelerate action towards gender-responsive disaster risk reduction policies, plans and programmes that are resourced and implemented and empower women to lead disaster risk reduction efforts.

Across different events this week, UNDRR and partners will be setting out how this can be achieved. Specifically, UNDRR is calling for the following actions:

• Uphold women’s rights and fully leverage the potential of women’s leadership in disaster risk reduction and integrate gender-responsive disaster risk reduction into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Apply a gender lens in all risk finance, including gender-responsive budgeting for disaster risk reduction across sectors, and dedicated financing for gender-responsive DRR strategies.
• CSW66 is the moment to commit to ensuring that a gender lens is integrated in the ongoing Midterm Review process of the Sendai Framework and that it provides forward-looking recommendations towards gender-responsive disaster risk reduction for the remainder of its implementation. The Midterm Review process will culminate in a High-level Meeting in New York in May 2023, and adopt a concise and action-oriented political declaration to renew commitment and accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework, a key enabler to achieve the 2030 Agenda. 

More information on UNDRR’s call to action can be found in our policy brief on Gender Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction:

Join UNDRR at the following events at CSW66:

• Ministerial Roundtable on “Climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes: advancing gender equality through holistic and integrated action from global to local” on 15 March, 10-11:30 am EST.
• UNDRR is also hosting a side event “Reducing disaster risk through a gender-responsive midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,” co-sponsored the Permanent Missions of Australia, Indonesia, Norway, and Peru as Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Disaster Risk Reduction, the Permanent Missions of Bangladesh and Japan, UNEP, UNFPA, UN Women, and WMO, which will take place on 16 March from 8-10am EST.
• A Call for Action: Gender transformative approaches to address the intertwined impacts of climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss and pollution, hosted by UNEP and co-sponsored by UNDRR, UNCCD, and CBD, 17 March 2022 10am-12pm EST
• Fireside chat with the President of the General Assembly, SRSG Mami Mizutori and four women working in disaster risk reduction, which will be released on the anniversary of the adoption of the Sendai Framework, 18 March
• Human Rights and gender equality in the context of climate change, the environment and disaster risk reduction, organized by OHCHR and co-sponsored the Permanent Mission of Fiji, UNEP and UNDRR, 22 March 12-:30pm EST.
• Empowering women in early warnings and early action to reduce disaster risk, Co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, 23 March time 12.00-13.15 EDT.