HARNESSING GIRL POWER FOR DISASTER MITIGATION

Recognising the potential of women of Odisha villages to contribute to disaster risk reduction, the Odisha government, in partnership with UNFPA, is pursuing a gender transformative disaster management approach

- Bijoy Patro

A few decades ago, Gyana Ranjan Das, the managing director of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), happened to witness a saree-clad village woman carrying a well-built man on her shoulder from atop a cyclone shelter down a ladder during a cyclone preparedness drill in the state. In another instance, he was accompanying a visiting foreign dignitary to witness a preparation drill. Young men crossing a pond had to balance themselves over a single rope with another parallel rope for support. It was meant to simulate a flood situation, the rope serving as a bridge. "One after the other, the young village boys fell into the pond. At last, it was a young girl who volunteered to demonstrate how to cross the pond without falling," he recalls.

These incidents left Das impressed by the grit, strength and stamina of the girls and women of villages in Odisha. It is tough to go up with a person on your shoulders, but it is even tougher to come down with that load, he points out, referring to the first incident. In the second instance, he found the village girls' courage commendable.

Field observations such as these prompted the OSDMA to consider mobilising women and training them in disaster management skills, besides strengthening the key skills of critical thinking, creativity, communication and decision-making, thereby empowering them in general. After all, not only would they need these skills to protect themselves but also the people around them in times of emergencies. "It was also a learning process. The presumption is that men are physically stronger and more confident. Those mental barriers must be broken at some point in time," says Das. Such mental barriers about gendered roles and notions abound today.