Women as leaders in conflict response


Women as leaders in conflict response

Photo Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown

The international community is not giving enough attention to the impact that humanitarian crises have on women and girls or to the role they play in emergency response. We need to. It’s time to examine how women are disproportionately affected by conflict and emergencies and how they fill the roles of first responders, caregivers and peacebuilders.

In this episode of A Deeper Look, I speak with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. We talk about how gender norms and household dynamics can change quickly in emergencies, presenting both challenges and opportunities. You won’t want to miss the moving examples Phumzile shares of bravery, leadership and determination that women demonstrate to bring peace to their communities.

This year, as we commemorate International Women’s Day, let’s put our focus on placing women center stage in our approach to humanitarian crisis response.

This year’s theme for A Deeper Look podcast is Humanitarian Crises and Emergency Response. You can hear it on SoundCloud or iTunes. I invite you to subscribe and join the conversation by leaving a comment or sharing the link on social media.

Read the transcript.

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