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The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations (UN). It bridges the academic world and the UN system. Its goal is to develop sustainable solutions for current and future problems of humankind in all aspects of life. Through a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach it aims at applied research and education on a global scale. UNU was founded in 1973 and is an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly. The University comprises headquarters Tokyo, Japan, and more than a dozen Institutes and Programmes worldwide.

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Gender and Disasters by Úrsula Oswald Spring - New SOURCE Issue.

Professor Úrsula Oswald Spring, the first chairholder of the MRF-Chair on Social Vulnerability at UNU-EHS, provides here thoughts about gender and security issues and shows challenges and opportunities of disaster risk management. Gender is considered as an aspect of social vulnerability, as women all over the world are the centre of not only the family unit, but of the whole society.

Oswald Spring calls therefore for renewed efforts to reduce social vulnerability by critically examining gender specific beliefs that lead to violence and victimization. The publication is a great contribution to understand more about the gender aspects of risk and vulnerability.

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Human Security is not only linked to the individual, but also to the characteristics of different demographic groups. Therefore, it is very important to understand gender in the context of human security, because men and women try to fulfill socially defined expectations, so there exists a gender-related social vulnerability. The SOURCE issue “Gender and Disaster” shows the interrelation between environmental risk factors and social vulnerability factors, with special focus on gender as an aspect of social vulnerability. The publication underlines the importance of women within the risk management and resilience building community and outlines a series of policy-relevant issues for human security. Prof. Oswald Spring was the first chairholder of the Munich Re Foundation Chair on Social Vulnerability at UNU-EHS.

Excerpts taken from the forewords by Janos J. Bogardi and Thomas Loster