It became clear from the Gender Impact Assessment of Hurricane Ivan undertaken in Grenada from 13–19 February 2005 that the existing gender inequities in the society rendered women and their dependent children uniquely vulnerable.
This report was written and recommendations formulated in the contemporary context of reconstruction in Grenada and the population’s awareness of the imminence of another hurricane season for the Caribbean and made recommendations in the areas of education, health, livelihood, and safety, in the context of gender equity.
It proposed that gender analysis should be an integral part of current disaster risk reduction plans being developed at the community level
The report makes two key recommendations:
1. polcy: a national statement on gender in the context of the development efforts for the reconstruction of Grenada should be urgently developed and adopted and integrated into the strategic objective of the ARD.
2. programme: research should be developed to inform policies and laws that deal with land use (for housing, construction, ownership, transfer and inheritance, resettlement and rehabilitation) with speci fic emphasis on safeguarding entitlements for single women with families.
The results suggested that an urgent programme of community redevelopment should accompany infrastructural efforts in affected communities.
Such a programme should include the re-establishment of community governance mechanisms in which both women and men are able to participate, and the capacity for gender analysis within the sectors and in communities identified for reconstruction activities should be strengthened.