GDN-NA Update

Description

On October 13, 2012, the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction, the new North American hub of the Gender and Disaster Network (GDN-NA) officially began. To commemorate the launch, and to make visible the range of disaster risk reduction strategies of women and girls, we placed our first ‘dot’ on the Women and Girls on the Map project.

To date, a small group from Mexico, the United States, and Canada has taken the first steps towards developing the Gender and Disaster Network North American Regional hub (GDN-NA). In addition to creating a vision statement and monthly email updates, we have had two virtual meetings to discuss funding opportunities, grant proposals, and our overall governance structure.

We would like to extend a warm invitation to our colleagues in Canada, the United States and Mexico to participate in the continued planning and development of the GDN North American hub. If you would like to be involved as we move forward, please contact us by email (see below). Thanks to all who have been involved in the early conversations and planning and we look forward to hearing from and welcoming many new voices!

Below you will find our vision statement (in English, French, and Spanish), a link to the hub webpage (still under development), and our main contact information.

Vision statement:
http://www.gdnonline.org/resources/gdn-na_vision_statement3Languages.pdf

GDN-NA regional hub webpage:
http://www.gdnonline.org/regionalhub_northamerica.php

Contact:
Shelley Pacholok (Assistant Professor, Sociology, The University of British Columbia – Okanagan, Kelowna, Canada)
Shelley.Pacholok@ubc.ca

Marcilyn Cianfarani (Paramedic - City of Toronto; MA - Disaster and Emergency Management - Royal Roads University, Victoria, Canada)
marcilync@gmail.com

The Gender and Disaster Network (GDN) started in 1997 as an educational project initiated by women and men interested in gender relations in disaster contexts. The GDN website is an international forum for discussion, networking, and information exchange among researchers, practitioners, and student interested in gender relations including intersections with sexuality, race, age, class, and citizenship:
http://www.gdnonline.org/index.php. GDN aims to strengthen its regional links and partnerships through Regional Hubs in the main World Regions.