Myanmar and China: The Most Effective Way to Help Women and Children in Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The story that rarely gets told is how natural disasters like the cyclone inMyanmar and the earthquake inChina uniquely impact women and children. "Tragically, when disaster strikes in most parts of the world, women and children get hurt the worst on every level - but their story is rarely told loudly enough," says Ritu Sharma Fox, co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide (www.womenthrive.org). "As a result, their needs are overlooked both in the immediate relief as well as long-term reconstruction."

"Women are poorer to start with, and a natural disaster means they're taking care of their extended family as well the orphans left behind after the disaster," Sharma Fox says. "But there are clear lessons learned about how to help them rebuild: give them a loan to start a home-based business. Provide childcare when you provide job training. Ensure that restrooms in relief camps are close by so they don't have to risk violence when they walk to them at night. Sadly, billions of dollars spent distributing food or rebuilding roads and bridges often don't reach women because they don't match up with their needs."

For ten years, she and Women Thrive have been working with legislators on the Hill to put the force of U.S. foreign policy into helping these poorest women and their children rise out of poverty. Women Thrive also has on-the-ground experience working with women following the Asian tsunami, and successfully advocated with Congress to set aside special funds to be directed to women in tsunami-affected countries, helping women in countries likeThailand andIndonesia. According to Sharma Fox, "Reconstruction must focus on women, because if you teach a woman to fish, everybody eats."

THE TRUTH IS:

    --  Statistically, 7 in 10 of the billion poorest people in the world are
        women and children, many of whom live on $1/day or less.  Natural
        disasters always hit the poorest hard: as the nation saw with Hurricane
        Katrina.
    --  Violence against women significantly increase in the immediate aftermath
        of natural disasters.
    --  Disasters make women poorer and increase their workload: and since they
        most often don't legally own assets, including the homes they live
        in, they find it harder to claim compensation.
    --  When assistance is provided to a 'head of household' it very
        often does not reach women.
    --  Natural disasters often push impoverished families to sell their girl
        children into trafficking for basic survival.

SOURCE Women Thrive Worldwide

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