Women are consistently identified as one of the most vulnerable groups to natural hazards and climate change. Their lack of mobility and exclusion from decision-making processes compounds their vulnerabilities. It is therefore essential to recognize that the vulnerabilities of women are integrated in social, economic, and political processes — and the gaps in growth that reproduce them. Grassroots women’s exclusion from decision-making is a factor that significantly contributes to their vulnerability. This exclusion is one of the reasons for the absence of linkage between development and disaster risk reduction programmes and grassroots women’s priorities. ActionAid Bangladesh ushered in the women-led emergency response (WLER) approach during the period of Cyclone Mahasen that hit the central southern part of the country in May 16 this year. The WLER Project was piloted in Kalapara sub-district of Patuakhali, one of the districts hit hard by Cyclone Mahasen. The success the pilot project earned was tremendous. The women of Baliatali, Nilganj and Mohipur unions under Kalapara, led the entire project cycle at community level – selecting the programme participants, carrying out the need assessment and budgeting to rebuild the shelter, procuring construction materials and supervising the reconstruction work – keeping aside the teasing and the browbeating by the vested quarter.

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