5 Min Inspiration: How women lead in emergencies

Women have a human right to participate in the public and political life of their community and country. But it’s a right that’s often denied, especially in emergencies.

Since 2018 CARE has been working with partners, including women’s rights organisations and women’s community groups, to address gaps in the humanitarian system which undermine women’s meaningful participation in decision-making in humanitarian contexts.

We have piloted tools and approaches which support women’s voices and leadership and shifting power and resources directly to women in communities affected by crises.

The result of these pilots is the Women Lead in Emergencies (Women Lead) Approach: a set of adaptable programmatic components and tools to improve the accountability, inclusivity and effectiveness of humanitarian response.
 
The Women Lead pilots were undertaken across 15 locations in 6 countries. An original test of the model was undertaken in Tonga in 2018 and then pilots began in Uganda (2018), Niger (2019), and in Colombia, Mali and the Philippines (2020).

Where do we go next? 
Going forward CARE will be focusing on moving Women Lead beyond the pilot stage, which has shown clear evidence of effectiveness. We will be scaling Women Lead in Emergencies beyond the six pilot locations with new projects which have already begun in Bangladesh (2021), South Sudan (2022), Myanmar (2022), and Ethiopia (2022).

Want to learn more?
Read the learning paper and accompanying summary document for more information about the findings from our independent multi-country evaluation.