Mainstreaming women into disaster reduction in the built environment- A guideline for Sri Lanka

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a guideline to mainstream women into disaster
reduction in the built environment in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on ten in-depth interviews conducted with ten
professionals engaged in disaster risk reduction in the built environment in Sri Lanka. The interviews
are complemented by a comprehensive literature review conducted on the impacts of 2004 India
Ocean tsunami on women in Sri Lanka, and the country’s status of mainstreaming women into
disaster reduction in the built environment.
Findings: The paper presents a guideline for mainstreaming women into disaster reduction in the
built environment in Sri Lanka which consists of factors influencing the process, main steps, parties
responsible, required resources, required expertise, appropriate stages of development to conduct
the process, barriers to the process, and how to improve the process.
Originality: At present, there are no guidelines which specifically inform how to mainstream women
into disaster reduction in the built environment in Sri Lanka. Such guideline is significant to reduce
women’s vulnerability to natural disasters and also to tackle disaster vulnerabilities of the built
environment in general.