The National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) is planning to train core staff so they can disseminate new guidelines for mainstreaming gender in inclusive disaster management to relevant officials at all ministries and state institutions, according to NCDM spokesman Soth Kimkolmony.

Kimkolmony told The Post on July 10 that two or three officials from the disaster management secretariat of each ministry and institution would be trained, a total of more than 100. He said NCDM was currently finalising a budget for the training.

“We will teach them to be core trainers so they can teach gender inclusiveness to their own departments. This is the most efficient way of making sure this knowledge reaches all stakeholders at the national and sub-national level,” he said.

Kimkolmony said the guidelines focused on the cycle of disaster management, how to include a gender perspective into disaster management policies, plans and programmes.

He added that the guidelines focused on several vulnerable groups, including the elderly, pregnant women, children, the disabled and other stakeholders, including ethnic minorities, people living with HIV/AIDS, and LBGTI groups at the time of a disaster.

Chan Lina, president of the Association to Support Vulnerable Women, supported the NCDM, saying this was a good time for women to think about what to do in a disaster.

“When there is a disaster, we have to know how to help our family. If some members of our family cannot swim or walk, for example, we should save them first. Then we should come back and try to help others,” she said on July 10.

Lina added that disasters were not limited to floods. She urged women to have plans in place in the event of any kind of disaster, citing a fire as a second example. In particular, they should be careful not to lose important documents such as family books and ID cards, because these documents were crucial for functioning in society.