3. Gender in Localisation

CARE is deliberate about partnering with local NGOs committed to gender equality in delivering a humanitarian response, and we also strive to work more, and more meaningfully, with women’s rights organisations in emergencies. This is key to how we “hardwire” gender in our humanitarian partnership work. 

The impact of crises on people’s lives, experiences and material conditions differ based on their gender and sexuality. Gender intersects with other forms of diversity which can exacerbate unequal power relations e.g. characteristics such as race, caste, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability. 

Our humanitarian mandate is to meet the immediate needs of women, men, girls and boys affected by natural disasters and humanitarian conflicts in a way that also addresses the underlying causes of people’s vulnerability, especially as a result and cause of gender inequality.  

Our activities during a humanitarian response can increase and reinforce, or reduce, existing inequalities. Integrating gender into every stage of a response is therefore a core part of achieving our humanitarian mandate, even and especially when we are working with local NGO partners that do not necessarily specialise in gender.  

Who can “do” gender in emergencies? All CARE staff and partner staff should use the four steps in the GIE Approach to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through humanitarian action. 

A key reminder is that we must link our and our partners’ humanitarian programming to CARE’s existing gender equality development programming before, during, and after a humanitarian crisis. 

Gender in Brief

Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA)

Women Lead in Emergencies (WLIE)

Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies (GBViE)