In Bougainville, Agnes Titus who works for the Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation explains how women realized that the state of emergency imposed by authorities did not really meet their needs, and pushed authorities to include women in the teams assessing the situation and determining measures to respond to COVID-19. Agnes and another woman on the team argued for the need to include women in the design of the disaster management and recovery. “You could hear a pin drop”, she remembers.

“It was the first time for these men to hear that women’s needs are actually different from men’s needs and that they have to take that into account when preparing for disaster and recovery. Now I know these things have come to the table of the decision-makers”

Shifting the Power Coalition is a feminist network of humanitarian organizations in the Pacific region, committed to promoting women’s leadership and inclusion of disabled people in humanitarian action. Since 2016, the Coalition has brought together 13 organizations across six countries to ensure that women take their rightful place at the head of emergency responses, and that the needs of women, girls and vulnerable members of the communities are at the heart of these responses. The work of the Coalition is supported by a network of national focal points.Find out more about the Shifting the Power Coalition via Our Webiste or follow Official Facebook Page