Establishing and Strengthening WHDRRP at Province 2 and Bagmati Province for Fostering Women Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Action
Women Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction Platform (WHDRRP), established since 2019, has worked to strengthen women professionals in humanitarian action, DRR and CCA at national, province and local level in collaboration with different government, non-government organizations, UN agencies and networks. As a loose platform of professional women working in humanitarian response and DRR, WHDRRP aims at bringing together women professionals for solidarity in fostering women leadership in humanitarian response and DRR. The overall goal of the WHDRRP is to empower women to attain leadership and enhance their meaningful role in decision making in humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction and climate change in Nepal. It was established with the objective to:
⮚ Strengthening leadership/advocacy capacities
⮚ Supporting individuals to enhance women’s leadership
⮚ Building the evidence base on women’s decision-making in DRR, documenting good practices and case studies, and disseminating them widely
⮚ Advocate establishing accountability in all levels
⮚ Recognizing women’s achievements
The platform’s operational works are conducted through its secretariat- Centre for Disaster Management Studies (CDMS), a women-led organization working in disaster risk reduction, climate change and resilient community development.
To date, the platform has been able to bring together more than 100 women professionals and extended its network to Sudurpaschim, Madhesh and Bagmati Province. It has been conducting advocacy and capacity development programs to achieve its objective of mainstreaming women leadership in all the spectrums of the DRRM cycle. Its program is supported by different institutions, individuals, and the voluntary spirits of the WHDRRP members.
WHDRRP and CDMS have leveraged collaboration with regional programs and international partners, sharing the same endeavors on women empowerment, meaningful participation, and leadership in disaster risk reduction, humanitarian response and building resilience. These include the collaboration with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), under the program on Building Resilience through Inclusive and Climate Adaptive Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia-Pacific (BRDR), supported by SIDA, to strengthen women-led DRR networks at provincial level, while enhancing the dynamics of WHDRRP platform and coherent efforts at all levels through advocacy and experience sharing.