Cities experience large and small scale disasters that can pose great challenges to sustainable development, for natural and human-made disasters have enormous economic, social and political impacts on human lives. “Cities, where half of humanity currently resides and much of the world’s assets are concentrated, are fast becoming the locus for much of [the] destruction and loss from disasters.”  These risks will increase as urban populations continue to grow.

Disasters can present opportunities for transformative change to begin and advance more quickly because the vulnerabilities that emerge as a result of crisis or disaster are clearer and consensus may be obtained more quickly to mitigate vulnerabilities. Population displacements as a result of disasters further create new settlements that present opportunities for planning how municipalities or cities will be managed and planned to cope, in equitable ways, with population changes.

This issue guide focuses attention on Urban Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation in order to broadly outline the where and how of gender responsive interventions to strengthen planned and future actions to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

What is the Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP)? The Gender Equality Action Plan (GEAP) is the means to realize the The UN-Habitat Policy and Plan for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in Urban and Human Settlements (2014-19). The GEAP has been developed through a consultative process inclusive of UN-Habitat Gender Equality Unit (GEU), UN-Habitat Gender Focal Points (GFPs), and the Advisory Group on Gender Issues (AGGI). It was finally presented at the annual AGGI meeting held during the World Urban Forum (WUF-7) for review and feedback.

The GEAP is guided by the findings and recommendations of the Evaluation of Gender mainstreaming at UN-Habitat (2011) and Gender Mainstreaming Audit and GEAP 2008-2013 review (2012).

Women, men, girls and boys are differentially affected by the conditions of urbanization. For instance, women are ???invariably disadvantaged compared to men in cities in terms of equal access to employment and shelter, health and education, transport, asset ownership, experiences of urban violence and ability to exercise their rights. These disadvantages are especially marked for poor urban women???1 These gendered dimensions of cities require continual examination if inequalities are to be understood and addressed for equitable and sustainable development. The Research unit can potentially help enhance understanding of this human-urban environment interface from gender perspectives.