About Us

GIZ

About the InsuResilience Centre of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions

Why the Centre of Excellence is needed?

Climate change impacts for women and men can overwhelmingly differ due pervasive historical and existing gender inequalities caused by unequal power relations and structures, discriminatory laws and customs, and unequal access to and control over resources. Consequently, women and girls are disproportionately affected by disasters. Thus, there is a clear imperative to consider the gender-dimensions within the context of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance.

Yet, when gender dimensions are incorporated, they often remain vague, uncoordinated, not prioritized and are not backed by sufficient capacity, resources and monitoring mechanisms to ensure successful implementation. Against this background, the vision of the Centre of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions is to provide gender –sensitive, -responsive and -transformative approaches to Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance solutions and address the differential gender-specific impacts of climate change.  It provides an online-based repository of information through a knowledge-sharing platform to aggregate resources, support leadership and promote best practices, research and training to address gaps and challenges.

To date, no other platform exists that collects, bundles, generates or coordinates information and knowledge on gender-related aspects in the area of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance. Thus, the Centre of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions aims to ensure open and transparent information flows with relevant actors and support, promote south-south and north-south knowledge exchanges.

The purpose of the generated resources is to offer tangible suggestions to overcome gender-specific and social exclusion related differences in the impact of climate and disaster risks related to socio-cultural norms and the specific roles and vulnerabilities that these societal constructs create on gender.

How it connects to the InsuResilience Global Partnership?

In recognizing the necessity to include gender dimensions within the broader climate and disaster risk management framework, the High-Level Consultative Group – the highest governing body of the InsuResilience Global Partnership, has prioritized gender considerations, with a particular focus on women and children, through the following actions:

Against this backdrop, the formation of a Center of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions is an important milestone toward the success of the InsuResilience Global Partnership Vision 2025 and will enhance the inclusion of gender dimensions within the CDRFI arena in line with the Declaration on Gender.

As a repository of information and a knowledge-sharing platform, the Center of Excellence on Gender-smart Solutions is the go-to platform to guide practitioners and policy makers on innovative inclusive gender- responsive and -transformative quality CDRFI solutions. The Platform will address the gender-specific and intersectional needs of poor and vulnerable women, men, and children, including understanding women’s additional barriers to economic participation.

Activities commissioned by the InsuResilience Secretariat

2021 

2020 

2019 

2018