2. What is Gender Integration?

Women and men, girls and boys have different needs, capacities and risks in an emergency.

Our activities during a humanitarian response can increase and reinforce, or reduce, existing inequalities. You need to understand CARE’s approach to meeting the different needs of women, men, girls and boys—reducing existing inequalities is a core part of our work.

‘Gender integration’ means taking account of differences and inequalities between men and women, boys and girls in everything we do. This supports more effective programming and also contributes to greater social equality. Many of our responses may already be integrating gender, but how well are they addressing the gender and power inequalities that influence our work?

Think about gender from the very start of an emergency response—and even before—as part of preparedness. Make sure that you are getting data that is disaggregated for sex and age. Then carry out a gender analysis—which you will revise and improve as you get more information—and adapt your responses based on that analysis. You will need to complete a gender action plan, which is a requirement to access the ERF and some donors.