Crisis Response: The Imperative of Investing in Preparedness for Women, Children, and Youth highlights the critical need for preparedness in humanitarian crises. It discusses how proactive investments in resilient health systems and services can protect vulnerable populations, ensuring life-saving care and reducing long-term costs.
Introduction: Crisis Response
Humanitarian crises often leave women, children, and youth in vulnerable situations, with their basic needs becoming increasingly difficult to meet. As funding for humanitarian aid continues to dwindle, the importance of preparedness in addressing these challenges cannot be overstated. Investing in preparedness strategies is essential to ensuring that life-saving services, particularly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, remain uninterrupted when crises strike.
The Crisis Within a Crisis: Kinana’s Story
In the heart of South Sudan, a mother named Kinana found herself caught in the devastating effects of a conflict that had torn apart communities and left people struggling to survive. Amid the chaos of war, Kinana faced a dire situation: she was pregnant and in desperate need of ante-natal care. As the fighting raged around her, she was forced to flee her home and seek safety. Despite the many obstacles in her path, Kinana eventually found a local clinic where she could receive the care she needed.
But Kinana’s story is far from unique. In times of conflict and crisis, millions of women and children around the world face similar struggles. They are often caught between the dual dangers of physical violence and the collapse of healthcare systems that once supported them.
The Overlooked Vulnerabilities: Women and Children in Crisis
Women and children are disproportionately affected by crises, often bearing the brunt of the consequences. In conflict zones, access to sexual and reproductive health services is among the first to be compromised. The lack of basic healthcare provisions leads to an increase in maternal and neonatal deaths, as well as a surge in sexual violence and unintended pregnancies.
The challenges go beyond immediate health risks. Loss of livelihoods and community protections can lead to an increase in child marriages, gender-based violence, and female genital mutilation (FGM), as seen in the aftermath of droughts in the Horn of Africa. These outcomes are not just humanitarian concerns they are human rights violations that persist long after the immediate crisis has passed.
A Decline in Humanitarian Funding
While the needs are growing, the financial resources available to meet them are dwindling. Humanitarian aid has seen a consistent decline, with fewer funds being allocated to support the most vulnerable populations. This gap in funding, coupled with the rising number of crises worldwide, creates a perilous situation for women, children, and youth in conflict zones and disaster-stricken regions.
The Power of Preparedness: A Proactive Solution
One of the most effective strategies to address these challenges is preparedness. Preparedness refers to taking action before a crisis strikes, ensuring that systems are in place to respond quickly and effectively when emergencies occur. Building resilient health systems, strengthening local governments and organizations, and ensuring that sexual and reproductive health services remain available are key components of preparedness.
Preparedness not only saves lives during a crisis but also reduces long-term costs. According to research, for every dollar invested in preparedness, more than two dollars are saved in future response costs over a four-year period. Yet despite this evidence, only a third of countries in East and Southern Africa have disaster preparedness policies that include SRH services, and fewer than half have the necessary funding to support them.
The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP)
To address these gaps, organizations have developed tools such as the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP). The MISP is a set of life-saving interventions that prioritize safe births, prevent sexual violence, provide contraception, and address sexually transmitted infections. It is a “first aid kit” for women and girls in the early stages of a crisis, ensuring that sexual and reproductive health services remain available when most needed.
In regions such as East and Southern Africa, assessments have been conducted to evaluate the readiness of countries to implement the MISP and ensure the continuity of SRH services during emergencies. These assessments have highlighted both gaps and opportunities for improvement, with many countries lacking the infrastructure and resources to integrate SRH into their emergency response plans.
The Role of the 2gether 4 SRHR Initiative
The United Nations’ 2gether 4 SRHR initiative has been instrumental in addressing these gaps. By working with governments, policymakers, and communities, 2gether 4 SRHR has focused on integrating the MISP into national disaster preparedness and response policies. Through advocacy and training, the number of countries in the region that have adopted the MISP has increased from just two to fifteen. This progress demonstrates the importance of continued investment in SRH preparedness and the positive impact it can have on women and girls during times of crisis.
Moreover, as the world grapples with the effects of climate change and the unpredictability of future crises, the need to integrate SRH services into climate responses is becoming increasingly urgent. In Southern Africa, the recent El Niño-induced droughts and floods have underscored the importance of strengthening data systems, securing flexible funding, and ensuring uninterrupted access to SRH services. The engagement of civil society and communities in providing peer-led support has also proven to be vital, especially for individuals living with HIV.
Why Preparedness is a Lifeline for the Most Vulnerable
Preparedness is not just a matter of economic prudence it is a moral imperative. When crises strike, it is the most vulnerable populations, particularly women, children, and youth, who bear the heaviest burdens. By investing in preparedness today, governments and international organizations can ensure that these groups have access to life-saving services and support when they need them most.
Additionally, preparedness strategies help to reduce the long-term impacts of crises, ensuring that communities can recover and rebuild faster. This is particularly important as humanitarian funding continues to decline and the global community faces increasing numbers of crises. Without a shift towards more proactive and sustained investment in preparedness, the outlook for women and children in crisis will remain bleak.
The Way Forward: A Call for Action
The evidence is clear: investing in preparedness not only saves lives but also reduces future costs. However, the work is far from over. Greater collaboration is needed among governments, donors, and local communities to ensure that preparedness measures are integrated into national policies and emergency response frameworks.
Governments must prioritize investments in resilient health systems, community engagement, and the continuous availability of SRH services. International donors must increase their support for preparedness efforts, recognizing the long-term benefits of proactive action. Furthermore, communities must be empowered to play an active role in disaster response, with a focus on providing support to those most in need.
In the face of dwindling humanitarian funds, preparedness offers a cost-effective and life-saving solution. For women like Kinana and millions of others caught in the crossfire of conflict and disaster, preparedness is not just a strategy it is a lifeline.
Conclusion: Preparing for the Future
In conclusion, while the decline in humanitarian funding is a pressing challenge, it also serves as a call to action. By prioritizing preparedness and investing in resilient systems, we can ensure that women, children, and youth in crisis are not left behind. We must act now to prevent future suffering and to build a more sustainable and equitable world for those most in need.
Learn more about preparedness strategies and their impact here.
