New £5m global initiative will challenge ideas of gender in disasters and conflicts

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has joined universities around the world to examine how gender influences the way disasters and conflicts are managed.

The Gender Responsive Resilience and Intersectionality in Policy and Practice (GRRIPP) project will connect experts, academics, policymakers and practitioners from the UK, Africa, South America and South Asia.

It will look at the theory, policy and practice of dealing with global disasters and conflicts with a gender-responsive approach.

For example, the provision of emergency shelters during a disaster for men and women often excludes those who do not identify as men or women – or whose gender identity is different from their sex.

The new global network will include Dr Ksenia Chmutina, of º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, who will lead the work on the Resilience theme.

Its aim will be to review global development challenges through an intersectional and gender lens in research, policymaking and development.

“In practice, this means finding ways to treat the most marginalised as individuals without reducing them to a category,” said Dr Chmutina.

“This means that we don’t just look at a person through a category of gender, but we consider an intersection of all categories that they might belong to as well as their life experiences.

“For example, the experiences of a black disabled woman might be very different from the experiences of a black woman or a white disabled woman.”

‌Designs used as part of the initiative, commissioned by the GRRIPP team, based on ideas that underpin the project, such as geographical diversity

The four-year project is part of a larger £147m programme funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The UKRI GCRF Collective Programme has been designed to impact global health, education, sustainable cities, food systems, conflict and resilience.

GRRIPP has received around £4.8m from the initiative and will be led by UCL.

It will focus on five main themes:

  • Intersectionality and Gender
  • Resilience
  • Infrastructures
  • Critical theory
  • Decoloniality

Dr Chmutina said: “I am absolutely delighted to be a part of GRRIPP Project and lead of the Resilience theme.

“GRIPP provides a unique opportunity to engage with academics, practitioners as well as community members in Latin America and Caribbean, Southern Africa, South Asia and the UK - and together we hope to transform thinking around gender in disaster and conflict contexts and challenge the normative notions of resilience and infrastructure through the lens of intersectionality.

“On this project we have already started a series of the most intellectually stimulating conversations that help us to collectively and democratically determine an agenda for change through facilitating knowledge exchange, enhancing solidarity, creating spaces for constructive dissent, and building an evidence base informed by grassroots knowledge and experience.”

ENDS

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 20/193

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in the Guardian University League Table 2021, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2021.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

Categories