Disaster READY: NGO self-assessment in the Solomon Islands

Disaster READY partners in the Solomon Islands are looking to improve gender and social inclusion capacity within their own organisations so that that they can better support the local organisations and communities they are working with.  

Above: World Vision Solomon Islands Humanitarian Emergency Affairs Manager Ms Zamira Rua led World Vision’s gender and social inclusion self assessment as part of the Disaster READY partners steps to improve gender and social inclusion across all their organisations.

Like all countries across the Pacific, the Solomon Islands is vulnerable to natural disasters. These disasters disproportionately affect women, people with disabilities and children and strengthening the inclusion of all people into disaster preparedness work is critical.  

Led by Oxfam Solomon Islands, Disaster READY partners in the Solomon Islands developed a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Toolkit. The partners used the toolkit to self-asses their organisational performance and capacity in gender equality, disability inclusion and child protection. Each partner’s self-assessment was then peer reviewed by the other partners.  

High on the list of identified gaps across all organisations was the technical capacity and expertise needed to promote gender mainstreaming, disability inclusion and child protection. Disability inclusion was the lowest ranked performance indicator and all partners acknowledged the need for greater effort and resourcing towards this area. 

The GESI self-assessment process means the Disaster READY partners know what needs to be done to improve their own organisational capacity, so they can provide the support and guidance needed to work towards social inclusion in disaster preparedness and management becoming the norm.