Author: Sathi Rani Saha
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no.GD-10-06
Year: 2010
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2010
Examination Committee: Philippe Doneys (Chairperson); Kyoko Kusakabe, Jayant Kumar (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: Risky geographic position near the Bay of Bengal an d shaky socioeconomic conditions has made Bangladesh extremely prone to terrible nat ural disasters. At first in the aftermath of the liberation war of 1971, NGOs contributed eff ectively and efficiently to meet the relief and rehabilitation needs of war affected peo ple. Since then, NGOs have continued their extensive role in disaster relief and rehabil itation programs. NGOs are also found more eager to focus on gender issues in their disas ter responses by selecting women headed household, widow, divorcee for relief aid, w omen friendly environment in the cyclone/flood shelter, and women priority cash for work program, etc. However, to implement gender issues in practice is not easy due to a male-dominated and gender discriminated society. For this reason, it is impor tant to investigate the role of aid agencies in addressing the needs of men and women during rel ief and rehabilitation as well as problems and difficulties men and women face due to disaster. Data have been collected from two villages in mostly affected Patuakhali dis trict of Bangladesh during the cyclone SIDR in 2007. Key informant interviews, questionnai re survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions have been conducted for thi s study. Findings suggest that women suffer more problems an d struggle more during- and after cyclone compared to men. This echoes the findings o f other studies conducted to know the impact of cyclones on men and women. Social, cultur al and religious norms and values, lower level of education, lack of resource ownershi p, less access to job and information and women’s traditionally enforced reproductive res ponsibilities are accountable for their disproportionate burden after cyclone. With available resources government along with NGOs carried
Scholarship Donor(s): Ministry o f Foreign Affairs, Norway
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the re quirements for the degree of Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development
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