Lynette Corcino, of Affaires mondiales Canada | Global Affairs Canada, highlighted the importance of women in elevating communities, “If women do well, then families do well, and in turn, communities do well. For that reason, Canada supports gender mainstreaming across Africa.”

The event, which revealed the results of the gender analysis in DRM conducted in Mozambique, acknowledged the journey that the country is taking to address issues of gender inequality.

Adelto Chambela, Director of Mozambique’s National Institute for Disaster Risk Management (INGD), highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to safeguard the most vulnerable, particularly women, children, and persons with disabilities, citing the heightened risk they often face during crises, including exclusion, gender-based violence, and trafficking. INGD is implementing targeted measures to ensure their protection and inclusion in disaster response and recovery efforts.

ARC representatives, Dr. Maruping (ARC Board Chairperson) and Eva Grace Kavuma (Chief Operations Officer), thanked all partners for their support. They emphasised the critical role of gender-responsive approaches in DRM, highlighting their alignment with both Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. They also underscored ARC’s ongoing collaboration with Mozambique in building resilience while addressing systemic gender inequalities that worsen vulnerabilities during disasters.

Finally, ARC Head of Gender Division, Dr Christy Adokiye George provided updates on the implementation of ARC Gender Strategy in ARC Member States while at the same time projecting for the next five years.

The panel discussion, made of INGD, the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Action and WFP Mozambique, showed the need for collaboration and smart partnerships for the implementation of the Gender Action plan, and for the development of strong systems to support coordinated fundraising for gender and DRM, the collection of sex-disaggregated data and strong monitoring systems.

Advocacy activities must now be initiated to elevate the implementation of the gender strategy for national law makers, targeting the national parliamentarians, and community leaders at district levels.

Outcomes

• Renewed commitment to gender integration in DRM frameworks.
• Endorsement of measurable indicators under the Gender Action Plan ; and
• Strengthened collaboration between ARC, national institutions, and partners to implement gender-responsive resilience initiatives.
• Affirmation of the need to collaborate and to create smart partnerships for the implementation of the Gender Action plan, for the development of strong systems that enable coordinated fundraising initiatives for gender and DRM, the collection of sex disaggregated data and strong Monitoring systems.