Gender Practice Area

Building resilient communities

Our resilience work addresses systems and institutions and seeks to build the capacity of households and communities to respond and adapt to shocks such as natural disasters, income loss, illness and other expected stresses. It ensures that women are not only part of the conversation, but that they are empowered to make decisions to participate meaningfully in preparation, response and adaptation to unexpected challenges within their household or in their community. Projects in this portfolio focus on gender integration and women’s empowerment in the areas of governance, health and nutrition, agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resource management, and disaster risk reduction. Approaches include support for women’s land tenure, literacy and numeracy initiatives, husbands’ schools for improved family nutrition, addressing household decision-making, and strengthening women’s groups and networks.