Combined Final Report – being summarized from the Cross-border assessment and analysis of the gendered impacts of climate-induced hazards in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for developing the Regional Programme on Women’s Resilience to Disaster (WRD)

Prepared by Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN International Consultant (Please donwload full remort and comprehensive recommedatnion in below)

Contents

1.0         Introduction. 8

1.1         Gender dimension of the assessment countries. 9

1.2         Multi-hazard Background of the study area. 9

1.3         Overview of historical disasters. 10

1.4 Analysis of Disaster trends: 11

1.5 Assessment Methodology. 12

2.0         Main Summary Report: Findings of the assessment (guided by the questionnaire) 13

2.1         key policies/strategies frameworks in DRR in assessment countries. 13

2.2         Early Warning, Prevention, and preparedness information being accessed at the community level. 13

2.3         Existing DRM coordination structures at national, sub-national, and local levels. 14

2.4 UN/government support for collection and access to SADD.. 15

2.5         The UN engaged at national sub-national and local levels. 16

3.0 Engagement with Stakeholders. 17

3.1 : The main stakeholders in the DRR sector in order of priority. 17

3.2    UN/Government structures engaging women and women-led organizations in DRR and resilience initiatives. 18

3.4 Key gaps in gender integration within DRR and resilience building initiatives. 19

4.0 Differential Impacts of Climate-Induced Disasters [Cyclones, Floods, Drought] 19

4.1 The different coping mechanisms adopted by women and men to climate-induced disasters. 20

4.3 key barriers to effective women’s engagement in DRR and resilience building. 20

4.4 Recommendation on strengthening the resilience among vulnerable women and girls to climate-induced disasters. 21

5. 0 key findings from the Focus Group Interview with the community. 22

6.0         Chapter: Overall Technical Recommendations for the Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) 30

6.1         Gendered DRR Frameworks and Approach. 30

6.2         Development and deployment of Early warning for all : 32

6.3         Improved Methodology, ICT tools, and stakeholder coordination for Development SADD  : 35

6.4         Improving UN , Government  and multi-stakeholder  coordination  mechanism  in DRM and DRR functionaries  37

6.5         Community-level risk-informed gender development approach. 38

6.6         SGBV tracking network and dissemination system (Proposed ) 39

7.0         Chapter: Actionable recommendations for stakeholders ( government, UN agencies, CSOs UN Women CO ) 41

8.0 Concluding Remarks : 42

Acronym :

AAP       Accountability to Affected Population

ADP       Annual Development Progarmme

AfDB      African Development Bank

AIP         Affordable Inputs Programme

CBFEWS               Community Based Flood Early Warning Systems

CBO       Community based Organizations

CBOs     Community Based Organization

CERF      Central  Emergency Response Fund

CFSVA   Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment

CPC        Civil Protection Committee

CRVA     Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment

CSO        Civil Society Organization

DCCMS Meteorological Agency

DCP        department of Civil Protection

DCPC     District Civil Protection Committee

DDPs     District Development Plans

DDRMC District Disaster Risk Management Committee

DEC        District Executive Committees

DEM      District Education Manager

DIS         District Information Systems

DNA       Designated National Authority

DNCC   District Nutrition Coordination Committee

DRM      Disaster Risk Management

DRMA   Disaster Risk Management Act

DRMIS    Disaster Risk Management Information System

DRP Act.               Disaster Relief and Preparedness Act

DRR       Disaster Risk Reduction

DRVA     Disaster Risk and Vulnerability Assessment

DSWO   District Social Welfare Office

DWR      Department of Water Resources

EAD        Environmental Affairs Department

EOC        Emergency Operations Centre

EUMETCast          EUMETCast Europe

EWS       Early Warning System

FAO        Food and Agricultural Organization

FEWS   Flood Early Warning System

FEWSNET             Famine Early Warning System Network

FFS         farmers field school

FGD        Focus Group Discussion

FISP       Farm Input Subsidy Programme

GAM      Global Acute Malnutrition

GBV       Gender Based Violence

GCF        Green Climate Fund

GDP       Gross Domestic Product

GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery

GFS        Gravity Fed Systems

GHI         Global Hunger Index

GiHA      Gender in Humanitarian Action

GIS         Geographical Information System

GNI        Gross National Income

GoM      Government of Malawi

GSD        Geological Survey Department

GVH       Group Village Headmen

HCT        Humanitarian Country Team(UN)

HIV         Human Immunodeficiency Virus

ICS          incidence command system

ICTZ       Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone

IDP         Internally Displaced Persons

IDSR       International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

IEC          Information Education and Communication

IFAD       International Fund for Agriculture

IFM        Integrated Farm Management

IGA         Income Generating Activities

ILO         International Labor Organization

INFORM               Index For Risk Management

INGD     Instituto Nacional de Gestão e Redução do Risco

INGO     International non-governmental organization

INM       Integrated Nutrition Management

IOM       International Organization for Migration

IPCC       Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IVR         Interactive Voice Response

KII           Key Informant Interview

LDF         Local Development Fund

MDF      Malawi Defense Force

MDG      Millennium Development Goals

MGDS   Malawi Growth and Development Strategy

MICS     Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys,

MIS        Management Information System

MoA      Memorandum of Understanding

MoAIWD             Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development

MOH     Ministry of Health

MoLGRD              Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development

MPHC    Malawi Public Health Committee

MRCS   Malawi Red Cross Society

MSMEs                 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises

MVAC   Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee

NABOP                 National Accounts and Balance of Payment

NAP       National Adaptation Funds

NCIC      National Construction Industry Council

NDC       Nationally Determine Contribution

NDMO  National Disaster Management Organization

NDPRC National Disaster Preparedness and Relief Committee

NEOC   National Emergency Operations Centre

NEP        National Environment Policy

NER       Net Enrollment Rate

NFIs       Non-Food Items

NGOs   Non-Governmental Organizations

NHP       National Housing Policy

NMHS   National Meteorological Hydrological Organization

NNPSP National Nutrition Policy and Strategic Plan

NRS        National Resilience Strategy

NRU       Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit

NSO       National Statistical Office

NWP      Numerical Weather Prediction

ODF       Open Defecation Free

ODSS     Operation Decision Support System

OPC       Office of President and Cabinet

PDNA    Post-Disaster Needs Assessment

PDNA   Post Disaster Needs Assessment

PiN         People in Need

RENA     rapid emergency needs assessmen

REOC     Regional Emergency Operations Centre

SADD     Sex, Age and Disability Disaggregated Data

SAM      Severe Acute Malnutrition

SARCOF Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum

SDGs     Sustainable Development Goals

SEA        Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

SEP         Social Economic Profile

SGBV     Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)

SGBV     Sexual and Gender Based Violence

SME       Small and Medium Enterprise

SMES     Small and Medium-Size Enterprises

SMS       Short Messing Service

SoD        Standing Orders on Disaster

SoP        Standard Operating Procedures

STI          Sexually Transmitted Infection

SVADD Shire Valley Agriculture Development Division

TA or T/A              Traditional Authority

TCF         Tropical Cyclone Freddy

TWG      Technical Working Group

UBR       Unified Beneficiary Register

UN         United Nations

UN Women         United Nations Women

UNDP   United Nations Development Programme

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF United Nation Children’s Fund

UNOPS United Nations Office for Projects Services

UNRCO United Nations Office of the Resident Coordinator’s Office.

MVAC   Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee

VAC        Vulnerability Assessment Committee

VDC       Village Development Committee

VHF        Very High Frequency

VSLA      Village Savings and Loans Associations

WASH    Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

WLO      Women Led Organization

WMO     World Meteorological Organization

WOLREC               Women’s Legal Resources Centre

WRD      Women Resilience to Disaster

ZimVAC Zimbabwe  Vulnerability Assessment Committee

Executive Summary of Cross-border Assessment & Analysis -Women’s Resilience to Disaster (WRD) :  

The Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) assessment highlights the intertwined challenges of gender inequality, climate insecurity, and weak disaster risk governance in highly hazard-prone countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. These countries face complex hydrometeorological risks including cyclones, flash floods, riverine flooding, hydrometeorological and agricultural droughts aggravated by fragile landscapes, shallow drainage systems, and insufficient flood management infrastructure. Such conditions repeatedly disrupt livelihoods, devastate croplands, and deepen food insecurity.

Women and gender groups, who make up around 60% of the agricultural workforce, are disproportionately affected due to persistent poverty, limited access to agroecological resources, weak value chains, inadequate service delivery, and exclusion from decision-making in a largely male-dominated governance system. Many are single mothers or widows whose livelihoods depend directly on climate-sensitive ecosystems. These structural vulnerabilities heighten their exposure to climatic shocks and erode their coping capacity.

The assessment identifies significant gaps in gender-responsive governance, risk assessment methodologies, early warning systems, and DRM coordination. Gender machinery remains weak, with limited representation of women in legislation, planning, budgeting, and DRM structures. Early warning systems lack technical rigor, localized forecasting, impact-based analysis, multilingual dissemination, and last-mile communication tools (e.g., radio, wireless loops, drone radio). Service delivery to frontline communities is insufficient, leaving vulnerable groups with limited preparedness and response capacity.

To transform the traditional DRM paradigm, the assessment proposes a shift toward risk-informed, gender-responsive, inclusive, and anticipatory governance. This includes strengthened gender institutions, participatory multi-level risk and vulnerability assessments, improved stakeholder engagement (CSOs, youth, community groups), and enhanced capacity of state and non-state actors. Strategic methodologies and ICT tools are recommended to modernize climate and multi-hazard risk analysis, support gender-responsive planning, and improve coordination across the DRM value chain.

Finally, the assessment stresses the importance of Early Warning for All (EW4ALL) through improved impact forecasting, localized dissemination, and systems that reach remote communities. Strengthening partnerships including proactive engagement of UN clusters will be essential for building national capacity in preparedness, L&D assessment, and effective response planning. Overall, WRD emphasizes the need to place women and vulnerable groups at the center of a resilient, inclusive, and adaptive DRM system capable of managing intensifying climate risks.

1.0      Introduction

The cross-border assessment examines how climate-induced hazards disproportionately affect gender groups women, girls, children, persons with disabilities, men, and the elderly across Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. It explores the physiological, political, economic, and societal factors driving differential impacts of climate change, as well as the coping strategies and adaptive capacities each group employs in response to recurring climate variability and disasters. The assessment aims to identify how the capacities of women and men can be strengthened to better adapt to climate change, and to highlight the critical role of women and women-led organizations in disaster preparedness, response planning, and community resilience. It further reviews national DRM policies in the three countries to identify key gaps and entry points for integrating gender considerations into risk governance, ensuring that DRM systems become more inclusive, equitable, and effective for climate-vulnerable populations.

1.1     Gender dimension of the assessment countries

The assessment finds that while Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe have gender-affirmative policies at the national level, gender integration remains largely symbolic rather than functional. Government systems recognize gender inclusion in principle, but gender considerations are not effectively mainstreamed into policy implementation, sectoral programs, or climate and disaster interventions. As a result, the needs and priorities of marginalized gender groups are insufficiently addressed, and interventions lack grounding in climate risk realities.

A key root cause is the systemic underrepresentation of women and gender groups across the core power domains of government—legislatures, administrative bureaucracy, financial management, local governance, and economic development. This marginalization limits women’s influence in planning, budgeting, and decision-making. Moreover, service delivery systems remain highly centralized and bureaucratic, with inadequate participation of local communities, especially women and vulnerable groups, in development and DRM processes.

To strengthen Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD), the assessment emphasizes the need to embed gender considerations throughout government structures, institutions, and decision-making processes. It proposes a gender-responsive risk management framework, including strategies and approaches for strengthening gender machinery so that DRM programs and interventions become more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the differentiated needs of women and marginalized groups.

1.2     Multi-hazard Background of the study area

The Assessment country’s diverse geographical & geological settings, proximity to the Indian Ocean, terrain topography, and positioning over the Sub-tropical climatological zone made the country highly vulnerable to hydrometeorological hazards. The part of the transboundary Zambezi, Limpopo, Olifants, and country-level internal river basins, catchments, and hydrologically active flood-prone zones triggers the flooding. In any given circumstance of a cyclone accompanied by constant rainfall, the sudden occurrence of heavy rainfall is likely to trigger flash flooding in downstream settlements.

The climate risk and vulnerability factors of the cross-border countries.

1. Proximity of the Indian west coast to the Indian Ocean: Vulnerability to western Indian Ocean tropical cyclones. The Indian Ocean is spawning strong and deadly tropical cyclones.
2. Positioning of Intertropical Convergence Zones or Doldrums area: Largely impacted by ICTZ, sub-tropical metrologies, Sub-tropical climatology, El Nino -During the October-November-December (OND) season, erratic rainfall alternated between below and above-average patterns in the region, etc. Several studies indicate that the warm Mozambique Channel becomes favorable for the development of tropical cyclones due to specific synoptic conditions. The buildup of settlements, basic utility structures, and other elements in vulnerable, lower flood-prone areas contributed to the larger loss and damage from the rapid-onset cyclone, accompanied by thundershowers, which induced heavy rainfall and torrential downpours.

Figure 1: Map showing the transboundary river basins crossing over the assessment countries

1.1  Overview of historical disasters 

Malawi :

Malawi has been experiencing increased frequency, intensity, and magnitude of extreme weather events. From 1975 to 2024, over 50 disaster incidents caused by extreme hydrometeorological hazards and the aftermath of disaster shocks have reached another level of disaster, including disease/outbreaks, caused by the ripple effects of floods/waterlogging. The table below shows the number of disaster events over the past 48 years.

Figure: Malawi Disaster events (1975-2023) : Source EM-DAT

The above disaster incidence graph shows that over the last 48 years, Malawi has experienced floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones, and incidentally, the post-disaster flooding induced cholera/diarrheal outbreaks, which also cause mortalities of children, women, and youth due to inadequate emergency WASH and hygiene services at the last mile. In the Gender Development Index 2022, Malawi was ranked 172 out of 193, which represents poverty, inequality, and inadequate stakeholders’ interventions for gender empowerment.

Mozambique  :

Mozambique has been experiencing increased frequency, intensity, and magnitude of extreme weather events. Since 1975, over 50 disasters have been triggered by hydrometeorological events.  

Figure: Mozambique Disaster events (1975-2023) : Source EM-DAT

The table above shows the number of disaster events showing that over the last 48 years, Mozambique has experienced tropical cyclones, floods, droughts, and incidentally the post-cyclone/flooding-induced cholera/diarrheal outbreaks, which also cause mortalities of children, women, and youth for inadequate emergency WASH and hygiene services at the last mile.

Zimbabwe:

In the Zimbabwean Population of 16.2 million (2023) , 68% currently reside in rural areas, whilst only 32% of the population currently live in urban areas ZimStat, 2017.  In the gender development index, 2022 reveals that Zimbabwe ranked 159 out of 193, which shows that the country’s largest female population lives in abject poverty, gender inequality, and an inadequate level of gendered risk-informed development and DRR interventions at the local level. 

Figure 2 : Zimbabwe, Disaster events (1975-2023) : Source EM-DAT

The EM-Dat database (1975-2023) shows that over the last 48 years, Zimbabwe has experienced droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones, and incidentally, the highest incidence of cholera/diarrheal-outbreaks, in the aftermath of the heavy rainfall and cyclone-induced flooding, which represents inadequate disaster preparedness and response mechanisms at the last mile. 

1.4 Analysis of Disaster Trends:

The last 50 years of disaster analytics, show that riverine and flash flooding, cyclone disaster events are predominantly occurring by tropical depressions (cyclones) accompanied by thundershowers and rapidly developing thundershowers induced heavy rainfall immediately trigger flash flooding, landslides the colossal damages of high-value elements ( settlements, agriculture, infrastructure, and basic delivery structures/facilities ), on the other hand, the hydrometeorological droughts trigger famine. Another critical hazard phenomenon is the ripple effects of flooding, which induce outbreaks of cholera and diarrheal disease, claiming human tolls. Consequently, ICT tools-based risk capture, risk communication, and dissemination, as well as risk-informed DRM mechanisms, can save lives and properties at the frontline for women, girls, and other vulnerable gender groups.  

1.5 Assessment Methodology

The methodological approaches of assessment follow through several strategic tools, e.g., semi-structured Key Informant Interview (KII) interviews with key stakeholders (sector ministries/departments, UN Agencies, INGO, CSOs) for investigating the Key DRR Frameworks and Structures in place, what the stakeholder engagement and coordination mechanisms are, the impacts of climate-induced disasters on the gendered group, etc. Comprehensive Desk reviews of all policy, strategy, and sectoral documents, reports, studies, etc., on DRM, DRR, and CCA.

Conducted Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with semi-structured interviews with the climate frontline vulnerable community in remote vulnerable areas and investigated the Impacts of Climate-Induced Disasters on the gendered group (women, girls, children, persons with disability, men, and the elderly), etc. Desk review of all policy strategies, and Review of early warning ICT and MIS systems relating to disaster risk management and informed planning.

2.0  Main Summary Report: Findings of the assessment (guided by the questionnaire)

2.1 Key policies/strategies frameworks in DRR in assessment countries

The assessment reveals that the DRM policy paradigms in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe remain centralized, gender-affirmative in wording but not gender-proactive in practice, and lack the institutional machinery and technical tools needed to translate gender commitments into actionable DRM interventions at district and local levels. Current DRM frameworks do not adequately integrate multi-hazard risk, gender inequality, poverty, food insecurity, or spatial climate risk indicators into policy design or implementation.

Sectoral coherence is weak, stakeholder roadmaps for gender-responsive DRR are insufficient, and gender action plans are absent across all cluster/sector departments. Gender mainstreaming guidelines, action plans, and sector-specific frameworks are urgently needed to ensure that gender considerations are embedded into planning, budgeting, and operational decision-making.

Key Recommendations:

1. Strengthen DRM Policies and Strategies:
   DRM policies must explicitly incorporate gender dimensions, reflect gender-differentiated climate risks and vulnerabilities, and mandate local-level institutions to deliver gender-responsive DRM/DRR/CCA planning and interventions.
2. Develop a Gendered Climate Fiscal Framework:
   Governments should allocate dedicated budgetary resources to support women-led smallholder agriculture, green entrepreneurship, and resilience-building initiatives for women-headed households, enabling greater inclusion in productive rural sectors and national GDP growth.
3. Establish Gender-Responsive National DRM Frameworks:
   National-level policies should be translated into local actions through decentralized governance systems, ensuring gender mechanisms exist at subnational levels. Strengthened coordination among sector ministries, local authorities, CSOs, and community structures is essential to deliver gender-responsive DRM services to the last mile.

2.2    Early Warning, Prevention, and preparedness information being accessed at the community level.

The assessment finds that Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe are situated in highly volatile climatic zones influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), sub-tropical climatology, El Niño OND seasonal variations, and the warm Mozambique Channel, which collectively intensify tropical cyclone formation and erratic rainfall patterns. These dynamics trigger rapid-onset hazards—including cyclones, flash floods, riverine floods, landslides, thunderstorms, and droughts—exacerbated by vulnerable terrain, shallow river systems, and widespread informal settlements in flood-prone areas. Rural livelihoods and food systems are disproportionately affected as settlements, croplands, wetlands, and lower floodplains face recurring climate shocks.

The assessment highlights critical gaps in national early warning systems. Current weather forecasting remains traditional—focused on “what the weather will be” rather than “what the weather will do.” Bulletins lack localized impact information, numerical weather prediction capability is limited, and ground observations are sparse. There is also no unified interpretation of forecasts across met agencies, NDMOs, and sector ministries, leading to inconsistent understanding of risks. Communication channels such as WhatsApp groups and community radio are insufficient for rapid-onset hazards, especially in remote areas.

Key Recommendations

• Strengthen integrated forecasting and impact-based warning systems, including long-, medium-, and short-range forecasts, as well as precise nowcasting for thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and flash floods.
• Implement nationwide real-time dissemination through AM radio, TV, and mobile phone channels using local languages to ensure accessibility for women, children, youth, elderly persons, and people with disabilities.
• Develop operational, gender-responsive forecasts that communicate specific risks to women and girls, including evacuation timing, safe shelters, and route information.
• Introduce impact-based agricultural and water resource forecasts, covering crop vulnerability, soil conditions, drought risks, vegetation indices, heatwaves, and impacts on ground and surface water.
• Expand last-mile communication tools, including multilingual SMS alerts, toll-free cell broadcasts, and IVR systems to ensure early warning access for all.

2.3        Existing DRM coordination structures at national, sub-national, and local levels

In Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, the national disaster management agencies—DoDMA, INGD, and the Department of Civil Protection—formally lead DRR governance. However, the assessment identifies significant gaps in multi-stakeholder engagement, institutional coherence, and risk financing, which hinder effective DRM/DRR implementation at provincial, district, and local levels.

Government respondents emphasized the absence of a clear roadmap and policy framework to ensure coordinated, sector-specific DRM/DRR planning, budgeting, and intervention design. Centralized bureaucratic control over fiscal resources further restricts the ability of sector ministries and local governments to implement meaningful DRR measures. Budget allocations for DRR—both sectoral and subnational—remain insufficient, delayed, or non-existent, limiting preparedness, early action, and resilience-building efforts.

Additionally, the countries lack a gender-responsive climate and disaster risk information system, a national risk financing framework, and policy instruments capable of mobilizing or advocating for external climate finance (such as the Green Climate Fund). This constrains efforts to mainstream DRR, climate change adaptation (CCA), and green resilience interventions at the local level, and leaves vulnerable communities—particularly women and marginalized groups—without adequate institutional support.

The assessment reveals that DRM coordination processes in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe are weakened by gaps in policy implementation, insufficient sectoral mandates, and inadequate integration of gender-responsive climate risk considerations into planning. Existing DRM laws do not fully operationalize policy actions, nor do they support cohesive, sector-wide DRR and CCA planning. As a result, most coordination structures function ad hoc, remain overly centralized, and prioritize post-disaster humanitarian response rather than proactive risk reduction and preparedness. The lack of sector-integrated planning frameworks, stakeholder coordination roadmaps, and ex-ante risk financing mechanisms further undermines the ability to implement demand-driven DRR and CCA interventions.

Key Recommendations

• Strengthen DRM Coordination Frameworks: Establish clearly defined structures at national, provincial, district, and local levels—including stakeholder mapping, roles and responsibilities, and standing operating procedures for both normal and emergency operations.
• Improve Local-Level Capacity: Deploy dedicated, full-time DRM personnel at district level to enhance preparedness, response, and recovery functions.
• Develop Multi-Hazard Contingency Plans and Budgets: Create actionable local DRR plans with allocated funding to support implementation and operational readiness.
• Build Institutional Capacity: Strengthen the skills of state and non-state actors across all levels to ensure effective DRM service delivery.
• Enhance Information Flow: Improve communication pathways, data-sharing mechanisms, and coordination systems for timely risk assessment and response.

2.4 UN/government support for collection and access to SADD

The assessment shows strong consensus among respondents on the critical importance of collecting sex, age, disability, and socioeconomic disaggregated data (SADD) to build robust climate risk and vulnerability databases that support gender-responsive DRR and climate action at the local level. Effective gendered risk reduction requires SADD not only for demographic profiling but also for understanding household-level vulnerabilities, sectoral exposure, and community-level multi-hazard risks.

However, the assessment identifies major gaps: countries lack standardized methodologies, tools, processes, and roadmaps for conducting SADD-based climate risk assessments. There is also no clear stakeholder coordination structure defining roles, responsibilities, and workflows for gathering, analyzing, and applying these datasets in DRM planning.

Key barriers include insufficient engagement of national statistical agencies, which should serve as nodal authorities for managing climate vulnerability data, and weak alignment with Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) that could provide technical oversight. Additionally, the absence of national guidelines and operational procedures for SADD collection leaves local authorities and sector ministries without the frameworks needed to generate reliable, gender-responsive risk information.

Key recommendations:

• The assessment recommends establishing District-level Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) equipped with ICT systems and networks to coordinate sex-, age-, disability-, and socioeconomic-disaggregated data (SADD) collection. These EOCs, linked to the National EOC, should engage Vulnerability Assessment Committees, National Disaster Management Organizations (DoDMA, INGD, DCP), and sector ministries to create a cohesive, multi-stakeholder SADD-based disaster risk and vulnerability information system.
• Key actions include:
• Anchoring DRM information systems to SADD by integrating EOC and Vulnerability Assessment Committee data for gender-responsive risk analysis.
• Developing district-level climate risk information networks that gather gender-sensitive SADD at the household level.
• Creating web-based and mobile applications for real-time SADD data collection.
• Enhancing institutional and stakeholder capacities—including mandates, methodologies, tools, and guidelines—for conducting SADD data collection, Rapid Emergency Needs Assessments (RENA), PDNA, CRVA, and DRVA.
• Strengthening coordination structures at Area/Traditional Authority (TA), administrative post, and village levels for data collection, processing, and risk-informed planning.
• Integrating UN/INGO information networks with national SADD portals to ensure alignment and data sharing.
• Positioning District EOCs as local information hubs with capabilities in risk assessment, risk communication, SADD management, early warning dissemination, and community awareness.
• These measures together will create a robust, gender-responsive risk information ecosystem that strengthens local DRM planning and enhances the effectiveness of DRR/CCA interventions.

2.5 The UN engaged at the national, sub-national, and local levels.

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), led by UN OCHA under the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, is responsible for coordinating UN emergency preparedness and response in support of national governments. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) oversees the effective implementation of inter-agency DRM activities, including addressing camp-based exploitation and abuse (SEA) and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) during disaster emergencies, coordinating the national DRM platform, and operationalizing the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) through the UN Cluster System.

However, the UN-led DRM coordination mechanism in the assessed countries operates largely on an ad-hoc, post-disaster basis, focusing primarily on crisis response, PDNA processes, and mobilizing humanitarian assistance. While agencies such as the World Bank, GFDRR, and INGOs support needs assessment and emergency response, coordination gaps persist, particularly in developing gender-responsive DRM frameworks, strengthening ex-ante risk financing systems, and supporting the localization of National Adaptation Plans (NAP), DRM, DRR, and resilience-building efforts.

Roles of Key UN Agencies

• UNICEF: WASH, Nutrition, Education
• WFP: Emergency food assistance, coordination of the Food Security Cluster
• IOM: Displacement tracking and support for displaced populations
• UNHCR: Protection and support for climate-displaced refugees
• UNDP: DRM/DRR capacity-building and institutional strengthening
• UN Women: Gender equality and women’s empowerment in DRM
• FAO: Food security and climate-adaptive agriculture
• WHO: Health emergencies, outbreaks, and epidemic response

The assessment underscores the need to strengthen UN–government coordination, embed gender-responsive DRM within the UN cluster system, and enhance proactive, risk-informed, and anticipatory action mechanisms rather than primarily reactive post-disaster responses.

3.0 Engagement with Stakeholders

3.1 : The main stakeholders in the DRR sector in order of priority

The assessment finds that although national disaster management agencies (DoDMA in Malawi, INGD in Mozambique, and the Department of Civil Protection in Zimbabwe) formally lead DRR processes, multi-stakeholder engagement at provincial and district levels remains inadequate. Sector ministries, non-state actors, and community structures are not effectively coordinated, largely due to the absence of a clear roadmap or policy framework for cohesive DRM/DRR planning, budgeting, and intervention design.

A major constraint is the centralized fiscal governance system, where bureaucratic control limits sectoral and district-level DRR financing. Local governments receive insufficient risk financing, inadequate sectoral allocations for DRR/CCA, and lack a national risk financing framework capable of accessing or advocating for external climate resources such as the Green Climate Fund. Gender dimensions are also poorly integrated due to the absence of a gendered climate risk information system and gaps in policy instruments that would mandate gender-responsive DRM planning.

Compounding these challenges is the absence of elected local government structures, which weakens grassroots participation, accountability, and inclusive DRM decision-making. Local governance in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe currently depends on sector department-led District Executive Committees and ad-hoc DRM/Civil Protection Committees, with limited authority, capacity, or continuity. This constrains meaningful engagement of women, girls, and marginalized groups, and restricts collaboration with UN agencies, INGOs, CSOs, and women-led organizations at the last mile.

Recommendations

1. Strengthen Gender-Responsive Legislation and Decentralized Governance

• Establish or reinstate functional local government systems with clear mandates for DRM/DRR/CCA.
• Embed gender responsiveness across all policies, plans, and decision-making processes.
• Define district-level roles, responsibilities, and coordination mechanisms to support inclusive community engagement.

2. Implement District-Level Climate Risk Financing Frameworks

• Introduce annual fiscal allocations for district and local DRM/DRR/CCA interventions.
• Develop district-level gendered risk financing systems to support women’s resilience, community preparedness, and climate-adaptive livelihoods.

3. Establish Comprehensive District-Level DRM and CCA Planning Instruments

• Develop district DRM frameworks, contingency plans, CCA plans, and gender development plans.
• Introduce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD), and multi-hazard preparedness and response plans.
• Extend these frameworks to Traditional Authorities (Malawi), Administrative Posts (Mozambique), and Wards (Zimbabwe).

4. Strengthen Resource Mobilization at District Level

• Create district-level revenue and resource mobilization strategies, including partnerships with donors, INGOs, and private sector actors.
• Enhance internal and external financing channels to support DRR/CCA interventions.

5. Improve Stakeholder Coordination and Gender Integration

• Develop district-level roadmaps for engagement of state actors, CSOs, women-led organizations, and community groups.
• Establish gendered DRM frameworks that include early warning systems, preparedness, response coordination, and humanitarian action.

6. Build Capacity for Local DRM Actors

• Train provincial, district, and local officials in risk assessment, planning, gender-responsive budgeting, and climate-finance mechanisms.
• Enhance the capacities of community-based committees to operationalize DRR/CCA at the last mile.

3.2    UN/Government structures engaging women and women-led organizations in DRR and resilience initiatives.

Stakeholder consultations highlight persistent gaps in DRM policy design and implementation, particularly in integrating gender dimensions and creating gendered risk management frameworks that meaningfully engage women and women-led organizations in DRR and resilience-building efforts. Existing DRM policies inadequately translate gender considerations into actionable interventions, leaving women—who represent the largest vulnerable demographic at the last mile—largely excluded from planning and decision-making processes.

Respondents noted insufficient UN–government facilitation of multi-stakeholder coordination, with weak linkages between state and non-state actors and limited gender-responsive DRM frameworks at national and sub-national levels. Centralized control over DRM/DRR planning, coupled with inadequate fiscal mobilization strategies, continues to hinder decentralization and obstruct coordinated action at the district and community levels.

Women-led organizations, particularly at the district level in Malawi, emphasized weak institutional structures, absence of a coordinated roadmap for DRM engagement at provincial and district levels, and the lack of a district-level gendered climate and multi-hazard risk information network. The absence of a SADD repository further restricts districts from designing gender-responsive DRR interventions and recognizing the differentiated vulnerabilities of women, girls, and marginalized groups.

Recommendations:

• The assessment recommends establishing a District-level stakeholder engagement framework and roadmap that clearly outlines strategies, shared responsibilities, and a 5W work plan (who will do what, where, when, and how) to guide DRM/DRR/CCA processes. Policy and planning instruments must explicitly define the mandates of state and non-state actors—including government agencies, UN bodies, CSOs, and women-led organizations—to ensure their meaningful engagement in resilience-building and disaster risk reduction at sub-national and local levels.
• Gendered climate and multi-hazard risk and vulnerability must be institutionalized as core priorities within long-term DRM/DRR/CCA policies and strategies. District-level planning should incorporate annual fiscal allocations dedicated to supporting women and women-led organizations, enabling them to participate actively in preparedness, resilience initiatives, and climate adaptation measures.
• A participatory governance model is essential, where sector departments, local authorities, UN agencies, INGOs, CSOs, and women-led organizations collaborate through inclusive mechanisms. This approach ensures that diverse voices influence district-level decision-making, planning, and implementation.
• Additionally, the development of a District-level risk-informed gender development strategy, a gendered risk management framework, and a climate and multi-hazard risk information network/SADD repository will allow local planning processes to reflect the differentiated needs, vulnerabilities, and priorities of women and marginalized groups.

3.4 Key gaps in gender integration within DRR and resilience-building initiatives.

Respondents across Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe identified significant institutional capacity gaps and inadequate tools for integrating gender into local-level Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and resilience-building initiatives. Persistent challenges include weak policy mandates, insufficient gender-responsive frameworks, and the absence of classified, sector-specific disaggregated datasets and risk information repositories at national and sub-national levels. These gaps undermine efforts to incorporate gender dimensions into DRR planning, implementation, and monitoring.

Financial constraints are also a major barrier. Governments lack adequate central fiscal allocations for DRR, and existing national budgets do not provide structured or segmented funding channels for district, TA/Area, Administrative Post, Group Village, and village-level DRR interventions. The absence of risk-informed gender development plans at the district level further limits the ability to target investments toward women’s and marginalized groups’ resilience.

The assessment also highlights weak gender-inclusive local governance systems, where participatory decision-making at community levels (TA/Area, Group Village, and Village) is insufficiently representative of women, girls, youth, people with disabilities, and elderly populations. Additionally, the lack of a women’s disaster and climate resilience framework, and absence of legislative or policy mandates enabling women’s access to governance and decision-making structures, continues to restrict gender-responsive DRR and climate planning.

4.0 Differential Impacts of Climate-Induced Disasters [Cyclones, Floods, Drought]

• Cyclone- and flood-related disasters in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe create severe gendered impacts, leading to widespread displacement and forcing many women, girls, and marginalized groups into climate refugee situations. Disrupted livelihoods and prolonged instability result in school dropouts, with children and adolescents compelled to engage in household income-generating activities, water collection, and firewood gathering to sustain their families.
• Women and girls are recurrently exposed to SGBV and SEA risks, both during displacement and in temporary shelters. Disasters also heighten exposure to epidemics, outbreaks, infections, and avoidable loss of life due to overcrowded living conditions and inadequate health services. Discrimination in accessing humanitarian assistance is common, and women’s lack of land ownership, combined with male-dominated cultural norms, further restricts their recovery options.
• Many women become loan defaulters due to loss of livelihoods, and they face discrimination in accessing essential government services and inclusive financial support for homestead-based income-generating activities. Climate refugee status often limits access to education, agricultural land, agroecology resources, and government programs.
• Camp management practices exacerbate vulnerabilities: evacuees are pushed out of school facilities within 2–3 weeks so classes can resume, leading to abrupt termination of emergency food assistance. Cultural norms and male domination within households often leave women to shoulder the full burden of survival, caregiving, and recovery during and after disasters.

Differential impact of women/ girls:

• Women and girls face disproportionate risks during climate-induced disasters. They are often the last to evacuate or seek refuge in shelters—especially during chaotic pre-disaster conditions—which significantly increases mortality among this group. Limited access to timely, localized, and understandable early warnings further reduces their ability to take anticipatory action and protect their families.
• As women and girls make up roughly 60% of frontline communities, their agriculture-dependent livelihoods are repeatedly disrupted by extreme weather events. This drives many into a cycle of protracted poverty, food insecurity, hunger, and famine, heightening the need for climate-adaptive livelihood options and income-generating activities (IGAs). Their vulnerability is compounded by long distances traveled to fetch water, which exposes them to heightened risks of gender-based violence.
• Systemic inequalities—including restricted access to agroecology resources, agricultural land, basic services, agricultural value chains, and inclusive financial services—severely limit women’s capacity to recover and build resilience. Deep-rooted patriarchal norms dictate land ownership and disaster decision-making, further marginalizing women and girls.
• Climate change exacerbates these vulnerabilities, with extreme poverty, young single mothers, women-headed households, child-headed households, and adolescent girls experiencing acute food insecurity and malnutrition. These intersecting socioeconomic and cultural barriers make women and girls the most climate-vulnerable demographic, necessitating targeted, gender-responsive DRR and resilience strategies.

4.1 The different coping mechanisms adopted by women and men to climate-induced disasters.

The assessment reveals that women, girls, and vulnerable households rely on a mix of positive and negative coping mechanisms when climate-induced disasters destroy livelihoods and disrupt food security.

Positive Coping Mechanisms

• Piecework/day labor and casual jobs, including temporary migration to South Africa to earn income for household sustenance.
• Small businesses and informal trade to generate daily cash.
• Social cash transfers, including post-disaster recovery assistance from government and CSOs.
• Support from relatives and community networks.
• Limited food assistance, though the annual 50 kg allocations are insufficient for household survival.

Negative Coping Mechanisms

These harmful strategies indicate deep livelihood erosion and high vulnerability:

• Cutting trees, charcoal production, and selling firewood, accelerating environmental degradation and increasing climate risk.
• Selling productive assets and household belongings, weakening long-term resilience.
• Transactional sex, exposing women and girls to violence, exploitation, and health risks.
• Forced early marriage of adolescent girls, used as a household survival strategy.
• Trafficking of girls and children, driven by desperation during crisis periods.
• Migration under unsafe or exploitative conditions.
• Selling humanitarian assistance (food bags, hygiene kits, essential supplies) to meet immediate financial needs.

These coping behaviors reflect severe livelihood stress, limited access to formal safety nets, and persistent gender inequalities, underscoring the urgent need for gender-responsive, climate-adaptive livelihood support systems.

4.3 Key barriers to effective women’s engagement in DRR and resilience building

• The assessment identifies significant systemic gaps that hinder effective gender integration in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and resilience initiatives across Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. A core challenge is the lack of adequate gender-disaggregated data, tailor-made assessment tools, and operational climate information needed to identify the specific needs and priorities of women, girls, youth, elderly, and persons with disabilities. This information gap limits the development of gender-responsive preparedness measures, contingency plans, and humanitarian assistance strategies.
• Stakeholders consistently emphasized the absence of a collective Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) framework, weak monitoring systems, and unclear roles and responsibilities for sectors in gender-responsive DRR. Further, the lack of operational, gender-specific climate forecasts prevents vulnerable groups from adequately preparing for impending hazards. Sector departments remain inadequately informed because gender-differentiated climate risk and vulnerability data systems do not exist, preventing proper entry points for gender integration in DRR and Local Development Planning (LDP).
• The assessment also highlights insufficient tools for understanding differential gendered impacts of multi-hazard risks. This affects the development of risk-informed Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA), Early Warning Early Action (EWEA), and forecast-based interventions, including mechanisms for responding to SGBV, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and enabling SEA reporting during emergencies.
• A major gap is the lack of a Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) framework, including coordination mechanisms, action plans, and institutional strengthening strategies for gender machinery across DRM, DRR, CCA, NAP, and NDC processes. Methodologies, tools, and guidelines for assessing the socioeconomic vulnerability of women-headed households remain inadequate, and key stakeholders (e.g., MVAC, ZimVAC) are insufficiently engaged.
• Financial and governance constraints further exacerbate vulnerabilities. The national fiscal system lacks structured DRR financing, especially at district and local levels, preventing gendered DRR interventions from being funded. There is no district-level risk-informed gender development plan, and governance systems remain weakly decentralized with limited opportunities for women, girls, and youth to participate in DRM or Civil Protection Committees (CPCs).
• Cultural norms, patriarchal beliefs, and restrictive social attitudes continue to suppress women’s voices in public decision-making. Women’s limited access to land, assets, education, and inclusive finance further undermines their climate resilience. Institutional weaknesses include:
• No gender action plans in sector/cluster ministries
• Lack of gendered recovery planning
• Insufficient gender-responsive budgeting
• Lack of base-case scenarios for gendered DRR planning
• Inadequate training for NDMO officers
• Absence of a gender-climate risk information network to guide local implementation
• Taken together, these gaps indicate that gender integration in DRR is inconsistent, underfunded, poorly coordinated, and insufficiently institutionalized. Strengthening gender-responsive DRM will require comprehensive reforms in data systems, institutional mandates, capacity development, financing frameworks, and community engagement mechanisms.

4.4 Recommendation on strengthening the resilience among vulnerable women and girls to climate-induced disasters.

Respondents emphasized that women and girls living at the climate frontlines require targeted, risk-informed, and equity-centered support to strengthen their resilience to climate-induced disasters. Building resilience for last-mile communities depends on improving governance, enabling gender-inclusive disaster planning, enhancing access to localized early warning, and expanding social protection systems, food security measures, and climate-adaptive livelihood options.

The assessment highlights several priority recommendations:

1. Reform Land Tenure and Resource Access

• Enable women’s secure access to agricultural land, wetlands, agroecology zones, agroforestry resources, and fallow land to support women-led GDP growth in agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and value chains.

2. Promote Climate and Disaster Education

• Introduce distance adult-learning programs (radio/TV) to strengthen women’s knowledge of climate change, disaster preparedness, and adaptive strategies.

3. Develop Gendered Climate Risk Tools

• Create gender-responsive, multi-hazard risk and vulnerability assessment tools that capture differential impacts on women and girls.
• Integrate gender into GiHA, Early Action Protocols (EAP), Early Warning Early Action (EWEA), and operational weather forecasting, specifically for marginalized women farmers, cooperatives, and women-led green enterprises.

4. Expand Women’s Access to Green and Inclusive Finance

• Provide soft loans, credit facilities, and climate financing to support women smallholders, women-led cooperatives, entrepreneurship, and value-chain participation.

5. Strengthen Protection Mechanisms

• Activate and expand SGBV and SEA reporting networks, especially during displacement and emergency periods.

6. Improve Access to Essential Services

• Enhance women’s access to basic health care, nutrition support, and social protection programs, ensuring timely, gender-responsive contingency mobilization during climate emergencies.

Together, these recommendations form a comprehensive roadmap for building gender-responsive resilience systems that empower women and girls to withstand and recover from climate shocks while securing sustainable livelihoods.

( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

5. 0 key findings from the Focus Group Interview with the community

1.  How do communities receive early warning of cyclone, flood, and drought, and is the information understandable

At the individual and community levels, the early warning messages go through the domino effect over the group-based consultation (Civil Protection Committee) and finally alert the frontline community with a delay.  Other sources of information, e.g., WhatsApp groups, road shows, loudspeakers, megaphones, indigenous cultural shows, etc., are not accurate, and time-critical warning messaging causes the mortalities of women, children, and girls. Mobile free SMSs are effective, but less than half of the population has access to cell phones, and people living in hard-to-reach areas get alerts from people-to-people contact.

•  What suggestions would the community propose to the government about improving early warnings for cyclones, floods, flash floods, heavy rainfall, and drought?

• The civil protection committees and vulnerable communities of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe recommended free radio sets(    Wind Up and solar PV powered) for the household  and precision level and timely early warning, instant messaging, common alerting with Local Language 
• The community demanded understandable impact-based multi-hazard early warning being broadcast through national Radio (AM), Community Radio, TV channels, and relevant agencies/actors to frequently broadcast special weather bulletins on cyclones, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, landslides, debris falls, thunderstorm, hailstorm, dry spell, heatwave, flash droughts etc.,  about intensity, anticipatory impacts, loss and damage and advisories for the high impact areas.
• Instant SMS/ Cell Broadcast/IVR, etc., in the local language   

• In what ways do climate-induced disasters impact?

• In what ways can the protection of women after disasters be enhanced?

• What coping mechanisms were adopted by the gender group?

Most of the respondents mentioned diverse and self-sustaining coping mechanisms with livelihood and local context. The livelihood diversification and using indigenous knowledge, in which some strategies used in coping are unsustainable and degrade the natural environment.

Positive coping mechanism:

• Peace work, casual labor, seasonal labor, construction workers, and technician jobs in other countries.
• Staring livelihood income-generating activities (maize cropping, fruit trees, poultry, livestock, to some extent, etc.)
• Dependency on the government running food supply (Mazie of bag), in the aftermath of the cyclone and floods.
• Dependency on Social Cash Transfer
• Dependency on Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) for starting small businesses.

Negative coping mechanism:

• Sales of productive assets (poultry, livestock, belongings)
• Transactional sex in exchange for money, support
• Cutting trees and making charcoal, selling charcoal, and selling firewood are contributing to deforestation.

Recommendations:

• Need technical and vocational training for income-generating support: Welding, electrician, plumbing, and mechanical technician jobs for livelihood-sustaining income generation.
• Agriculture support – Seasonal cropping, seedling, sapling of winter vegetables
• Support for small businesses
• Support for Growing season (Winter season) cropping – Input supply (irrigation, fertilizer, seedling, sapling)
• Financial/seedling/sapling Support for livelihood, productive assets
• Agriculture Farming(winter)

a] Women _____________

Positive coping mechanism:

1. Peace work – from casual labor, which is not enough for purchasing maize for everyday meals.

Negative coping mechanism:

• Sales of productive assets (poultry, livestock, belongings)
• Transactional sex in exchange for money for survival  
• Cutting trees and making charcoal, selling charcoal, and selling firewood are contributing to deforestation and environmental degradation.

b] Men ____________

Positive coping mechanism:

• Peace work – from casual labor, which is not enough for purchasing maize for everyday meals.

Negative coping mechanism:

• Sales of productive assets (poultry, livestock, belongings)
• Cutting trees and making charcoal, selling charcoal, and selling firewood are contributing to deforestation.
• Trafficking children

Recommendations:

• Need technical and vocational training for income-generating support: Welding, electrician, plumbing, and mechanical technician training.
• Extra care for children
• Pregnant women – water cholera, diarrheal,
• Need psychosocial support to avert the emotional distress of losing everything.
• The person with disability needs disability-friendly sheltering support

• To enable affected communities to recover faster, what would your priority needs be?

• Capacity development for Human capital in DRR-related rural development funding.
• Access Financial Capital
• Access to Natural Capital
• Access to inclusive finance for startup livelihood activities
• Training on productive assets development in farming
• Technical and vocational training (animal husbandry, poultry rearing, fruit growing)
• Technical Training in SMES development (food processing, small business, marketing, input value chain supplies for livestock, agriculture, poultry, vegetables, fruits, etc.)
• Technical and vocational training for lean period work.
• Startup capital for running small business.
• Engaging women in agriculture value chain development
• Inclusive financial support for group/cooperative women-led green entrepreneurship development (Integrated Farm Management, Fenced area development for livestock farming, Poultry farming, mini pond-based fish farming, Fruit gardening, agroforestry development, high-value cropping, etc.)
• Technical training on climate adaptive farming, rainwater harvesting, soil health improvements, IFM, FYM, etc., for round-the-year cropping.
• Vocational training on agroforestry development

• What are the key barriers in recovery here at the community level?

1. Government regulatory measures over the land and water management:
2. Inadequate institutional decentralized technical support services for the remote rural community for boosting growth from productive rural sector e.g., Water supply and irrigation for Agriculture and drinking, Livestock farming, Poultry farming and fish culture, agroforestry development, homestead gardening, value chain development, etc.
3. Government control over land management, land ownership, and land control policies are the most institutional barriers to getting rural communities access to agricultural land for cropping, fellow land for agroforestry development and fruit gardening, and other productive farming.
4. Most indicative barrier again the inadequate irrigation infrastructures, integrated water resource management infrastructure and services, and drainage network for producing surface irrigation access to rural farming.
5. Malawi having a lot of fresh water bodies (rivers, channels, lakes, wetlands) but inadequate rainwater harvesting structures, rural water control structures, drainage networks, and services for rural communities for access to surface irrigation for boosting rural agriculture.
6. Inadequate access to climate risk finance, DRR/CCA finances:
7. Inclusive financial support for group/cooperative women-led green entrepreneurship development (Integrated Farm Management, Fenced area development for livestock farming, Poultry farming, mini pond-based fish farming, Fruit gardening, agroforestry development, high-value cropping, etc.)
8. Startup capital for running small business.
9. Engaging women in agriculture value chain development
10. Access to inclusive finance for startup livelihood activities
11. Access Financial capital
12. Access to Natural Capital
13. Inadequate disaster recovery framework for rural income-generating productive sector (agriculture, livestock farming, poultry farming, fruit gardening etc.:
14. Inadequate intervention package for individual farmers, smallholder farmers
15. Inadequate sectoral climate risk and vulnerability assessment, local agroecology, soil health , ecology-based DRR/CCA scheme design, plot demonstration, and commercial farming
16. Inadequate/insufficient DAE/Agriculture/water sector initiative for essential irrigation support
17. Inadequate farmer’s field school (FFS) and horticulture development in every village and supporting individual and stallholder framers for round-the-year subsistence and conservational farming
18. Inadequate disaster risk finance, incentives, subsidies, financial package, green shed/greenhouse structure support for marginalized farmers for round-the-year cropping, etc. 
19. Inadequate Sectoral support for the productive farming:
20. Lack of farmer’s field schools, horticulture, and agriculture input supply trigger points for supplying seeding, and sapling to remote rural communities for subsistence and conservative farming.
21. Capacity building on income generating activity (IGA) , household level productive asset building:
22. Technical Training in SMES development (food processing, small business, marketing, input value chain supplies for livestock, agriculture, poultry, vegetables, fruits etc.)
23. Training on productive assets development farming
24. Technical and vocational training (animal husbandry, poultry rearing, fruit gendering )
25. Technical and vocational training for lean period works.
26. Technical training on climate adaptive farming, rainwater harvesting, soil health improvements, IFM, FYM, INM, etc., for round-the-year cropping.
27. Vocational training on agroforestry development
28. Technical training for the development of Human capital
29. Inadequate knowledge and understanding about changing climate and impending multi-hazards.
30. Lack of government mass education campaign (media outlet – Radio /TV based) for knowledge and awareness raising of marginalized rural community for DRR/CCA and resilience building.
31. Inadequate Gender Resilient Framework:
32. Lack of organizational interventions for marginalized women in scheme design, scheme financing, value chain development, and cooperatives framing for more GDP contribution from productive rural growth sector (Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Poultry farming, small  business, and entrepreneurship development)

• What are climate induced disasters impact women, men, girls, and boys differently? Justification

• Lessons from Cyclone Fredy, Idai, keneth etc., release that the patriarchal domination over the critical evacuation at the household level also contributes to larger casualties of women and children because they were the last people to level.
• Women and vulnerable members lack of awareness, and understandability about the intensity and destructive nature of impending cyclones, and flash floods in their locality as because they do not have access to Radio/TV broadcasts driven mass education campaigns about climate change, multi-hazards, disaster-related awareness dissemination factored the high impacts, loss, and damages of livelihoods assets, properties, and mortality.

What are the key recommendations for enhancing resilience opportunities for women and girls

( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

1. What are the key recommendations for enhancing resilience opportunities for women and girls

• Strengthening and implementing of GiHA ( gender inclusive humanitarian  action) at full scale until women-headed households, single mothers, and girls are building a livelihood better and more sustainable 
• Access to climate and multi-hazard risk-information system
• Access to DRR/CCA planning and decision-making process.
• Access to inclusive finance
• Access to Agroecology, agricultural land and farming
• Access to Farming value chain and inputs. 
• Access to Disaster and Climate Risk management Governance system
• Social Protection, reducing SGBV and SafetyNet’s
• Access to climate change and multi-hazard education and knowledge
• Development of Gender climate risk network

• What would you like to suggest government for making your household resilient to disaster and climate change?

• Liberalization of government land control policy, amendment of local government land management and land leasing act, and allocation of the category of lands to rural women for agriculture, livestock farming, Integrated farming, agroforestry development, fruit gardening, fish culture, etc. 
• Green banking facility, Access to inclusive finance, soft loan & micro-credit (VSLA) facility, green finance, green bonds, access to green climate finance for women-led green entrepreneurship development, Startup capital for running small business, smallholder adaptive farming, IFM, livestock, and poultry farming.
• Technical training on climate adaptive farming, animal husbandry, poultry rearing, fruit gendering rainwater harvesting, Integrated Farm Management, Farmyard Manure production, etc., for round-the-year cropping, agriculture value chain development.
• Agriculture department to develop Village based farmers field school (FFS), Horticulture center for supporting marginalized and smallholder farmers in round-the-year climate adaptive farming,
• Impact-based forecasts and operational forecasts for rural sectors, elements, and farming, etc,
• Forecast-based financing package for the women-headed smallholder farmers in productive asset protection from the hazards (crops, poultry farms, livestock farms, fish culture, integrated firms, high-value crops etc.)   
• Strengthening and implementing of GiHA  ( gender inclusive humanitarian  action) for  women-headed households, single mothers, and girls for starting livelihoods productive assets and income-generating activities  immediately after the disaster recovery phases
• Ensure Social Protection, reducing SGBV and forms of outbreaks of violence,  food security, and SafetyNet’s

1. In what ways can your voice be better heard by the authorities to enhance prevention to disasters?

( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

• Improving local governance structure (TA, Administrative post and Group Village/ and engagement of Women girls and youth in local development planning, local DRR/CCA planning, disaster preparedness, contingency planning, and humanitarian actions at the local level.
• Inclusive community participation in every DRR/DRM/CCA planning, and Develop community leadership.
• Enhance community DRR, and climate change learning via national media outlets AM Radio, FM Radio TV etc
• Develop community/village-based climate and multi-hazard risk and vulnerability atlas, social / community risk map, contingency plan, DRR /CCA plans.
• Develop village-level DRR plans, and design productive income-generating schemes for households and smallholder farmers.
• Community based Technical Working Group(TWG) for coordinating local government basic service deliveries
• Local DRM/DRR Technical Working Group(TWG)
• Forecast-based Anticipatory Early Action Protocol (EAP)
• Development of Community level Risk Assessment Committee
• Development Youth Climate Action Group
• Community-level DRR cooperative group
• Development of youth climate action group
• Development of youth humanitarian action group
• Development Youth Humanitarian Group Community-based TWG for coordinating local government basic service deliveries
• Development of Women/girls/youth (gendered ) climate risk information network for informing DRR/CCA planning the local level planning process.
• Developing forecast-based early action protocol for the community:  Local government and humanitarian actors need to understand impending cyclones, floods, flash floods, droughts, landslides, outbreaks, and diseases (cholera, diarrhea, infections disease, malaria, yellow fever, and other communicable  diseases)
• Developing forecast-based financing protocol and sensitizing humanitarian actors about the anticipatory finance and humanitarian assistance that need to be mobilized.
• Develop forecasts on medium-slow onset hazards e.g. hydrometeorological drought, agricultural drought, flash drought, water stress situation in drinking water crisis, etc. for early actions.
• Develop gender DRM network/framework for supplying tailormade information to sector ministries, departments, and other state, and non-state actors for risk-informed gendered DRM/DRR/CAA action planning targeting most vulnerable women-headed rural households.

6.0  Chapter: Overall Technical Recommendations for the Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD)

Gendered DRR Frameworks and Approach

( Figure : Proposed Gender DRM Framework )( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

a) Establish DRM gender framework :

Without having the gendered DRM framework supported by the gendered climate risk information, it is apparently difficult to find the entry point and tangled bureaucratic system to understand the importance of the gender dimension of local economy development, potential investment for the gendered productive sector e.g., agriculture, livestock, poultry, fisheries, agroforestry, high-value cropping, food process enterprises, local green entrepreneurship, NAP, NDC localization and full scale climate adaptive rural growths being carried out largely be driven by the women population living at the frontline.

( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

The proposed gendered climate resilient framework outlined the functional components of local-level functionaries.

• Establishment of a Gendered Risk management Network based (Framework) 
• Improving Gender machinery Gendered DRM coordination at local level
• District-level Gendered DRM Information Network
• District-level SGBV information network 

1.  Capacity enhancement of government planning Ministry and planning commission in risk-informed planning, strategy development and decision-making process

• Risk-informed Policy, strategy, planning institutional capacity of the Planning Ministry, Planning Commission, and planning officials.
• DRR/CCA progmmare planning by relevant line ministries, and sector line departments.
• Identify of Entry point for Differential gendered impact of multi-hazard and climate risk and vulnerability integration in the planning process
• Capacity development of district-level stakeholders in developing gender dimension, gender machinery, gender risk management framework, SADD tools, methodology, and guidelines.
• District-level EAP, EWEA, Forecast based early action.

• Formulation of District Gender Risk Management Framework/ District Women Resilience Framework
• Capacity building of District local governments in developing of District Gender Risk management framework/ District Women Resilience Framework

• Gendered risk-informed Responsive District Development Planning Framework (DDPF)
• Capacity building of District duty bearer for transforming and transitioning from ad hoc based disaster emergency interventions to long -term disaster risk reductions for enhancing actors and vulnerable community capacity for averting the slow onset ripple effects aftermath of major hazards and disaster
• Improve coordination and decentralized structure of comprehensive community engagement in the local DRM/DRR process.
• District DRM progarmme (DRMP) essentially has to be five year strategy and  need to address/ consider the recurrent and persistent multi-hazard risks and vulnerabilities, residual/cascading  and ripple effects major disasters ( floods, landslides induced water borne disease and epidemics ).
• DRMP need to all articulating the legal framework to tackle SGBV, the  DRM laws also to  mandate  of state and non-state actors to strictly follow the legal procedures against  SGBV during disaster emergencies.
• District level Annual development programming (ADP) and interventions from the government DDP/DRMP and budgeting allocations need to set the annual targets of community-based DRR with pivotal milestones in the council’s commitment to enhancing resilience, preparedness, and response capacities of women-headed households. 
• Unique District council coordination structure and functionaries for developing DDP/DRMP/Contingency Planning at the district level
• District risk management governance needs to establish stakeholder stakeholder-integrated M&E framework for regular reporting and progress tracking of all stakeholders on DRR and resilience building(women-headed households).

6.2    Development and deployment of Early warning for all :

Inadequate clear road map of Sendai framework of Early warning for all functional processes as a result, impact forecast development, forecast broadcasting, transmission, and dissemination is being done haphazardly which leads to some level of untimely dissemination. It is highly recommendation for development and deployment of precision level detailed advisories also improvement issues that being entrusted to NMHS and sector department to work together to develop integrated forecasting. The proposed roadmap of EWS for all working in the following diagram.

Figure: Diagram of EWS development and dissemination process ( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

Figure: Proposed EWS for all  value chains to be handled jointly by  EoC/Met Agency /NMHS / National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO) and other sectoral ICT Units( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

1. Improving ICT-driven DRM governance at all levels (national, province, district, Administrative Post, ward, village) :

The current DRM governance mechanism is managing disaster emergency response paradigm which is inadequate to function the integrated multi-hazards, disaster, changing climate impacts, DRR, CCA, NAP portfolios, and multi-stakeholders coordination.

• Develop gender responsive and multi-stakeholders coordination DRM framework at all levels (national, district, province, ward, village). Strong multi-stakeholders coordinated and gender response DRM structures for gendered DRR and resilience building Challenges:
• Paradigm shift and transitioning from the existing DRM coordination process to undertake post-disaster emergency response-based ad-hoc interventions by the Civil Protection Committee to risk-informed multistakeholder coordination   DRM and DRR for local-level gender empowerment and development.
• Enhance the capacity of NDMO based on the current mandate (civil protection/ emergency preparedness and response)
• Improve DRM governances at Provincial and district level with DRM staffing and capacity building in DRM.
• Develop DRM planning at the Provincial and district level by clearly defining the multi-stakeholders map (state, nonstate, UN agencies, INGOs, national NGOs, CSOs, Charities, Private Sectors, Local Institutions, academia, youth girls organization, WLO, local charities etc.)
• Installation of Emergency Operations Center and SOP for supporting all early warnings, operational forecasts, EWS for women, girls/ youth groups, children, disabilities
• Sector and sectoral elements specific, farmers, Women-led category of entrepreneurs specific special impact weather forecast, operational forecasts.
• Structural DRM support for the women smallholder farmers (water access, drainage system, access to agricultural land, access to surface water /irrigation, access to solar PV powered irrigation, access to AVC inputs, horticulture supports,  access to market etc.) . Develop Local agroecology-based DRM and DRR projects and pilot demonstration in every village and community level horticulture for supplying all agricultural inputs for promoting community-based DRR scheme.

• Setup EOCs at the province, district level and improve of multi-hazard early warning system:

• Most of the respondent mentioned development of much needed precision level weather forecasts: Met agency need to develop more specialization in developing high-resolution seasonal, decadal, weekly, 3 days, 5 days weather forecasts, need to develop dynamic and statistical downscale model  rapidly developing thunderstorm (RDT of  meteo France) for predicting heavy rainfall and thunderstorm. 
• Improving surface observation system : Upgrading METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY  weather observations  system, acquisition of 5km grid data sets on surface observation,  install more AWS with synoptic conditions tracking sensors, drone radar, laser ceilometer, radiosonde, rain gauging instrument, uses of EUMETCast lightning sensor data for tracking thunderstorm, Flood level gauging from the river system , flood forecasting and modeling.
• Development of impact based weather forecasts and operational forecasts : Develop  methodology and guidelines on how to organize forecast briefing with guidelines on who will be the participants , how to interpret the risks by organizing discussion and analyzing weather model/outlook subject matter specialists ( Agrometeorologist, hydrologist, geomorphologist, water resource engineer, Plant scientist, Agri engineer, drought experts, landslide expert,  agroecologist, ecologists, meteorologist, synoptic engineers, geomorphologist, etc.) along with forecasters( long, medium, short range), Numerical Weather Prediction(NWP) engineers/specialists, Synoptic Engineer and organize the  forecast beliefs/discussion  about the anticipatory impacts, risk and vulnerability and eventually  developing impact forecasts. The multi-hazard risk analysis over the elements (is not a designated responsibilities of EOC operators) is a group work and the outlined specialists need to develop, customized tools, methodology, guidelines on impact-based forecasts and operational forecasts for the sector, sectoral elements, lives and livelihood elements on the ground. Analysis weather phenomena and interpretation of risks and vulnerabilities. 
• Meteorological agencies need to develop high-resolution gridded forecasts and analyze damaging and beneficial impacts of impending weather parameters on the lives and livelihoods(elements). Met agencies need to develop a pool of technical experts/specialists (Agrometeorologist, hydrologist, geomorphologist, water resource engineer, Plant scientist, Agri engineer, drought expert, landslide expert, agroecologist, ecologists, meteorologist, synoptic engineer, geomorphologist, etc.) for interpreting the extreme weather phenomena being forecasted. Developing methodology, tools, guidelines on transplantation and interpretation risk and vulnerabilities of predicted impending weather phenomena/parameters. Detailed analysis of Impacts and effects of ongoing onset weather events and developing bulletins. Developing special weather bulletins for women, elderly, girls and youth groups onset of tornadoes, thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, cyclones, flash flooding, landslides etc.

• Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to develop Early Action Protocol (EAP) :

• Develop forecast based early action protocol, anticipatory loss and damage (L & D), and impacts level and instantly broadcast the messages so that every women headed household is adequately warned /alerted. National media outlets need to play a pivotal role ( in local language) by broadcasting  distant learning education programs ( radio/TV) for awareness
• EOC to develop early wearing-based anticipatory early actions advisories/bulletins for the women headed households about what needs to be done in the given early warnings and impending hazard conditions so that they get well alerted and well prepared.

• The Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) : Development of forecast based  GiHA protocol for the women/single mother and girls-headed households

• Develop national risk financing framework (gender-focused) : The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs needs to develop a National risk financing framework and DRR budgetary allocation in every fiscal budgeting ( with gender-based allocations)

• Mandating Local authorities’ planning and budgets:  Local authorities’ budgets are separate from the central Government budget; these are composed of local revenue. When a disaster occurs at urban authority level, the urban council is responsible for disaster response. If the magnitude exceeds the urban council’s capacities, the urban council submits a request for assistance to NDMO, which can make use of the National Contingency Fund (or request additional funds to the Ministry of Finance) for emergency humanitarian support. However, the local government needs to develop DRR Planning and budgets for the TA level.

• Inadequate Urban councils planning and budget allocations for implementing community-level DRM/DRR schemes:  Urban councils do not have a budget for financing  DRM/DRR shames for poor households 

• Strengthen the National DRM Framework

• Apply an integrated approach from response, recovery, and reconstruction, to risk reduction and preparedness based on sound disaster risk assessment, and mainstream DRM in all sectors, through formulation/revision and enactment of DRM Bill, development of DRM Policy and DRM Strategy in line with Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

• Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development: Enhancing the capacity of NDMO based on DRM, recovery, and resilience mandate (emergency preparedness, response, risk reduction, recovery, and resilience). This entails increasing capacities at the central level in terms of staff, technical capacity, and resource; reinforcement.
• Improving Cyclone and Flood Forecasting and Early Warning: Enhance forecasting and early warning for cyclone and flood events through the strengthened real-time observation network, early warning system, and capacity development for NDMO and METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY.
• Anchoring SARCOF Southern Africa Region Climate Outlook Forum with METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY  and EOC at Lilongwe and District level.

6.3    Improved Methodology, ICT tools, and stakeholder coordination for Development SADD  :

Sex-, age-, and disability-disaggregated (SADD) data are critical for gender-responsive and risk-informed DRM, DRR, and CCA planning in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. However, these countries currently lack a clear roadmap, standardized methodology, and institutionalized tools for systematic household-level SADD data collection and use.

A proposed stakeholder coordination structure addresses this gap by establishing clear leadership and roles. The Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) provides overall strategic oversight, while the National Statistical Office (NSO) leads on methodology, standards, and data quality, and the National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO) ensures operational integration of SADD data into multi-hazard risk analysis and disaster planning. Local governments and civil society organizations are responsible for household data collection, community engagement, and inclusion of vulnerable groups, with support from development partners for digital platforms, analytics, and capacity building.

This coordinated framework institutionalizes SADD data systems, reduces fragmentation, and enables inclusive, evidence-based decision-making to support gender-responsive, resilient, and climate-informed development planning. 

Figure : SADD Data collection mechanism( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

Figure : Proposed Stakeholder coordination, data and information exchange mechanism and SADD data collection functional process( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

Recommendations:

• At the local level, effective DRR, DRM, and CCA planning requires the systematic use of informed tools and gendered risk analysis to address persistent gender inequalities. This involves developing standardized methodologies, tools, and guidelines for CRVA, community risk assessments, PDNA, JNA, RINA, and rapid initial assessments conducted within the first 1–48 hours of a disaster, using technologies such as drones, satellite imagery, UAVs, GIS maps, CRVA maps, and elements databases to support life-saving decisions.
• Gender impact analysis must be embedded across all assessments through the use of sex-, age-, and disability-disaggregated (SADD) data to clearly identify differential exposure, risk, vulnerability, and sensitivity between women and men. This enables more effective preparedness, operational planning, and capacity building.
• Strengthening the capacity of National Statistical Offices, sector departments, and research institutions is essential for high-quality SADD data collection, GIS-based analysis, and generation of additional gender-relevant data through household and organizational surveys. Parallel capacity development of planning ministries and sector departments is required to ensure evidence-based and gender-responsive planning.
• With support from partners such as UN Women and UNDRR, national and subnational government institutions must build sustained capacity to collect, analyze, report, and use SADD data for DRR policy and planning. Tailor-made SADD frameworks enable the integration of gender perspectives into DRR, climate change, risk-informed development, and resilience laws, policies, strategies, programmes, and projects. Ultimately, the effective use of SADD data supports inclusive disaster risk reduction and resilience initiatives that address the needs of both women and men and reduce structural inequalities.

6.3    Improving UN , Government  and multi-stakeholder  coordination  mechanism  in DRM and DRR functionaries

The assessment identifies significant gaps in UN, government, and multi-stakeholder coordination for translating DRM, DRR, and CCA commitments into actionable planning, programming, and implementation:

• UN coordination (HCT) is largely reactive and concentrated on post-disaster humanitarian response, with limited linkage to anticipatory action, prevention, recovery, and long-term resilience building.
• Government systems lack a comprehensive climate risk management framework, clear actionable coordination architecture, and standardized mechanisms to operationalize DRM/DRR/CCA across sectors.
• Gender-responsive and localized approaches remain weak, with insufficient integration of SADD, gender analysis, and community-level risk information into last-mile planning and implementation.
• Risk-informed tools (CRVA, GIS, climate analytics, SADD dashboards) are not systematically embedded within coordination platforms to inform decisions across the disaster cycle.

These gaps result in fragmented interventions, limited ownership at subnational levels, and missed opportunities to reduce gender inequalities in risk exposure, vulnerability, and recovery outcomes.

Figure: Diagram Proposed UN-Government Coordination Structure for DRM Process

6.3    Community-level risk-informed gender development approach

The assessment informed the development of a roadmap for the WRD process by examining existing government systems across long-term vision frameworks, medium-term development plans (five-year strategies), and short-term instruments such as the Annual Development Program (ADP). It finds that while these structures are largely functional, they remain predominantly top-down and insufficiently gender-responsive, resulting in weak integration of gendered risk considerations into planning, budgeting, and implementation.

To address this gap—particularly at the last mile the assessment proposes a risk-informed, community-level, bottom-up approach to gendered climate and disaster risk governance. This approach emphasizes participatory processes that systematically integrate SADD data, gendered risk analysis, and local knowledge into community risk assessments, planning, and implementation. By linking community-level evidence and priorities with national and subnational planning cycles, the proposed process aims to bridge the disconnect between policy and practice, strengthen inclusive governance, and enable actionable, gender-responsive climate and disaster risk interventions that are locally relevant and sustainable. 

Figure : Community level risk-informed gender development approach( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

• The proposed approach prioritizes inclusive, gender-responsive climate resilience and local development by strengthening women’s leadership, access to finance, information, and services. Central to this is the promotion of climate-resilient green entrepreneurship, enabling women—particularly single mothers and adolescent girls—to access green finance and forecast-based financing mechanisms that support anticipatory action, livelihood diversification, and resilience building.
• Women’s leadership is emphasized across local civil protection, DRM, DRR, and CCA planning and implementation, ensuring meaningful participation in decision-making and accountability processes. Clear roles and responsibilities for state, non-state actors, and CSOs are essential to ensure accountability to affected populations (AAP), effective service delivery, and the operation of GBV reporting and referral networks at the community level.
• The framework also supports women-led agricultural value chain development, improved access to local government sectoral services, and strengthened climate information networks tailored to women entrepreneurs, girls, and youth groups. This includes access to impact-based weather forecasts, forecast-based early action services, and climate advisory information.
• Finally, the approach promotes distance learning and mass media–based climate education, focusing on adaptive, conservation, and subsistence agricultural practices at the local level. Collectively, these interventions aim to reduce gender inequalities, enhance women’s economic empowerment, and build resilient, inclusive local climate and disaster risk governance systems.

6.3    SGBV tracking network and dissemination system (Proposed )

• Robust information management network & violence reporting (web-based/geospatial), Social monitoring, networking, and women-led policing  for reducing  PESA and SGBV incidence
• National media outlet(Radio/TV) based constant broadcasting on humanitarian  situations and GBV incidence

Figure : Proposed SGBV tracking and reporting network( Source : Z M Sajjadul Islam, UN Women – International Consultant)

6.0  Chapter: Actionable recommendations for stakeholders ( government, UN agencies, CSOs UN Women CO )

Undertake cross-border analysis of the gendered impacts of climate-induced hazards in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe

Annexure 1: Detailed Actionable Recommendations (summarized from the assessment)

Table: High-level actionable recommendations for stakeholders including government, UN agencies, CSOs, UN Women

Proposed Institutional Capacity Building:

• Proposed Institutional Capacity Building:
• Capacity development of the sector department in the gender action plan in every cluster
• Capacity development in the MIS system for tracking data on the cluster’s gender progress.
• Revising the DRM policy and the inclusivity of  gender components/agenda of DRM/DRR issues, so that  all interventions should be gender-responsive
• Capacity development of the sector department in SADD  tools, methodology, guidelines development, and coordination structure
• Capacity development supports the finance ministry in developing its gender responsive multi-hazard risk finance framework.
• Capacity building of the gender ministry in gender-responsive DRM action plan development
• Capacity building of NDMO in developing DRR in humanitarian action in the National gender policy ( component on gender risk management ) and stakeholder maps ( UN Agency, Plan International, SCI, other actors ).
• Capacity building of  EOC /Met Agency in the development of EAP and EWEA, impact-based forecast development, community-based early warning development, operational forecast development, and Improvement of early warning dissemination
• Capacity building of WLO, CSO, Local NGOs, and Youth Groups in DRM ( preparedness, response )
• Coordination Capacity of District-level state and non-state actors in the implementation of Anticipatory Action (AA) DRM programs, Food security and logistics, preparedness, and response.

8.0 Concluding Remarks :

Females constitute a disproportionately larger share of the overall population in the assessed countries and play a critical role in driving national and local economies, particularly through agriculture. In 2022, agriculture contributed approximately 26.73 percent to Mozambique’s GDP, 22.1 percent to Malawi’s GDP, and 7.19 percent to Zambia’s GDP, with women and adolescent girls forming the majority of the agricultural workforce. Despite their substantial economic contributions, frontline women are among the groups most severely affected by climate shocks, experiencing protracted poverty, food insecurity, and livelihood instability. Addressing these challenges requires last-mile state and non-state actors to prioritize integrated, climate-resilient livelihood options that empower women and girls to break entrenched cycles of vulnerability exacerbated by climate change.

Given the complexity of gender dynamics, the assessment underscores the necessity of a comprehensive, bottom-up risk governance approach to strengthen women’s empowerment and gender resilience in disaster and climate contexts. Women and other marginalized gender groups at the frontline face multidimensional constraints, including weak gender machinery structures and processes, as well as gender-biased governance systems that require strengthening across all spheres of government. While central bureaucracies often frame gender inclusivity as gender-responsive governance through limited staffing or designated roles, genuine gender machinerization must be embedded as a core principle across policy-making, planning, budgeting, and decision-making processes, with proportional representation and influence in governance structures.

Although institutional decentralization is underway, it has largely focused on assigning women to selected administrative positions or sectoral departments at the district level without granting meaningful authority. Persistent centralized bureaucratic structures continue to undermine decentralization, constraining gender-responsive budgeting, fiscal autonomy, and local development decision-making. Political will, budgetary commitments, and fiscal mechanisms to support gender empowerment—particularly in gender-engaged smallholder farming, agroecology-based entrepreneurship, rural economic development, and resilience building—remain insufficient.

Districts are widely recognized as the primary hubs for local development; however, in the assessed countries, local governments are not fully decentralized and lack elected legislative bodies empowered to oversee gender machinery, enact local legislation, or guide gender-responsive development planning, budgeting, and resource allocation. Colonial-era centralized bureaucratic systems continue to dominate local governance, limiting district-level autonomy and accountability. The absence of a clear roadmap and weak sectoral coordination further restrict the emergence of district-centric, multi-stakeholder, and actionable DRM, DRR, and CCA planning and implementation. Local planning decisions are frequently shaped by central bureaucracies and entrenched masculine political elites, marginalizing women’s voices and priorities.

Under these conditions, gender-responsive DRR planning is constrained by the lack of structured gender machinery, comprehensive gender-sensitive DRM/DRR frameworks, gender-tailored climate risk–informed tools, and evidence-based socioeconomic vulnerability data. These gaps limit the ability of planning and budgeting institutions to identify effective entry points for inclusive, gender-responsive DRM/DRR and CCA interventions. To date, central government efforts to promote gender inclusion in local planning and disaster risk processes have been largely generic and reactive, failing to treat gender as an indispensable consideration despite the significant GDP contributions generated by women-led rural growth sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, livestock, agroforestry, SMEs, and food processing.

Merely appointing gender professionals within select sectoral institutions is insufficient to challenge entrenched masculine power structures at district and local levels. Transformative change requires robust gender machinery supported by gender-representative legislative bodies, decentralized governance mandates, gender-responsive fiscal authority, climate risk–informed planning tools, gendered socioeconomic vulnerability analysis, climate information networks, and gender-focused DRM/DRR coordination platforms capable of influencing planning, budgeting, and implementation processes across administrative levels.

Ultimately, overcoming paradoxical centralized governance systems that silence women’s voices demands the creation of genuine ownership across all administrative tiers—from national and provincial institutions to districts, traditional authorities, administrative posts, and villages. Ensuring meaningful participation of women through evidence-based, gender-informed, and climate risk–sensitive tools is essential to strengthening planning and budgeting processes and achieving equitable, resilient, and sustainable development outcomes. 

9.0 Recommendations :

The assessment demonstrates that in the assessed countries women constitute a disproportionately large share of the population and are the backbone of local economies, particularly in agriculture. In 2022, agriculture contributed approximately 26.73% of GDP in Mozambique, 22.1% in Malawi, and 7.19% in Zambia, with women and adolescent girls comprising the majority of the agricultural workforce. Despite this central economic role, frontline women are among the groups most severely affected by climate shocks, facing chronic poverty, food insecurity, livelihood disruption, and heightened exposure to climate- and disaster-related risks.

To address these systemic vulnerabilities, the assessment emphasizes the need for last-mile state and non-state actors to prioritize integrated, climate-resilient livelihood options that explicitly empower women and girls. Such approaches are essential to breaking intergenerational cycles of vulnerability exacerbated by climate change and recurrent disasters. This requires a shift from short-term, reactive interventions toward sustainable, risk-informed livelihood systems that combine economic empowerment, social protection, and climate adaptation.

The assessment further highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive, bottom-up risk governance model that centers women’s empowerment and gender resilience within DRM, DRR, and CCA frameworks. Women and marginalized gender groups continue to face multidimensional barriers, including weak gender machinery and institutional processes, limited gender-responsive governance systems, and inadequate representation in decision-making spaces at local and subnational levels. While gender-responsive governance has gained some visibility within central bureaucracies, it remains largely tokenistic, focusing on procedural inclusion rather than embedding gender as a core governance principle across policy, planning, budgeting, and implementation.

Decentralized gender-responsive governance remains constrained despite ongoing decentralization reforms. Although women are sometimes assigned roles within district-level administrative or sectoral departments, these positions often lack meaningful authority due to persistent centralized bureaucratic control, insufficient gender-responsive budget allocations, limited fiscal autonomy at the district level, and weak political commitment to local gender empowerment. As a result, districts—despite being recognized as key hubs for local development—lack effective legislative authority and oversight mechanisms to drive inclusive and gender-responsive development planning and budgeting. These challenges are further reinforced by entrenched patriarchal political elites that continue to shape local decision-making dynamics.

The absence of a clear roadmap and weak coordination among sectoral stakeholders further undermines the development of district-centered, multi-stakeholder, and gender-responsive DRM, DRR, and CCA planning processes. Gendered disaster risk planning is also hindered by critical gaps, including the lack of structured gender governance systems, gender-responsive DRM/DRR frameworks, climate risk–informed planning tools tailored for gender analysis, robust evidence-based socioeconomic vulnerability data, and inclusive budgeting mechanisms. Existing efforts by central governments to integrate gender into local DRM/DRR processes have been largely generic and reactive, failing to treat gender as an indispensable dimension of climate and disaster risk management despite the substantial GDP contributions of women-led rural and informal sectors.

The assessment concludes that transformative change requires more than the designation of gender focal points within ministries. Instead, it calls for the establishment of robust gender machinery anchored in legislation and governance systems; the creation of gender-representative and empowered district-level legislative bodies; the decentralization of mandates, fiscal authority, and accountability mechanisms; and the systematic deployment of gender-disaggregated climate risk data and gender-informed planning tools. Strengthening gendered DRM/DRR and climate resilience networks is also critical to ensuring coordination and sustained action.

Ultimately, overcoming centralized governance structures that silence women’s voices requires fostering genuine ownership and participation across all administrative levels—from national institutions to village structures. Ensuring the meaningful inclusion of women through evidence-based, gender-informed tools is essential to improving planning quality, budget allocation, accountability, and long-term climate and disaster resilience outcomes.

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High-level, actionable recommendations for stakeholders, including the government, UN agencies, CSOs, and UN Women, on assessing the cross-border analysis of the gendered impacts of climate-induced hazards in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

Annexure 1: Detailed Actionable Recommendations (summarized from the multi-country assessment)