Women Rising Project – Women’s Health Loddon Mallee

Health promotion action 1 is about creating better public policies that promote good health. This project centres the voices of women and gender diverse people in rural in communities affected by disaster and climate change to identify opportunities to improve disaster planning, response and recovery policy. 

Following the floods across regional Victoria in 2022, Women’s Health Loddon Mallee (WHLM) launched the Women Rising: Empowering Flood Recovery project to address gender inequalities in disaster recovery. The project recognises that gender inequalities are often exacerbated during disasters, and that women’s contributions and expert knowledge in planning, response and recovery can often be overlooked.    

WHLM undertook a series of focus groups with women and gender diverse people in flood impacted areas of the Loddon Mallee region to build a stronger understanding of their lived experiences, the vital skills and expertise women contribute to planning and recovery, and to recognise community-led solutions for improving existing policies, systems and structures. This has informed the development of the Being, Belonging, Becoming model which provides a framework for understanding and responding to women’s wellbeing during floods, and offers a cycle of continuous learning that can be adapted to different disasters, different communities, and different women.    

‘Being, Belong, Becoming’ model

Women’s Health Loddon Mallee

The Women Rising report provides a framework for implementing gender inclusive planning and response mechanisms in local governments and response agencies. Based on the lived experience data collected from the focus groups, and evidence-based literature, the report promotes equitable health, social, and economic outcomes through a community-led, strength-based approach. The report contributes further to the development of a localised evidence base, highlighting the intersectional gendered experiences of disasters.  

The implementation of ‘Lessons in Disaster’ training across the region has further supported workforce capacity and knowledge to build inclusive public policies and practices across communities, ensuring preparedness and healthier outcomes for everyone. This training reinforces the importance of applying a gendered lens at each stage of disaster, from prevention and planning to response and recovery, allowing for more effective emergency management and resulting in stronger and more inclusive communities in and after disasters. 

Read more about this work here: https://whlm.org.au/women-rising