167.6 million people were estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2020 – a number expected to have increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the highest reported figure in decades. Refugee crises continue to increase in scope, scale, and complexity. There are 25.9 million refugees around the world who have been forced from their homes and countries due to disasters and conflicts. 85 percent of the world’s refugees are hosted in low and middle-income countries, which are facing their own economic and developmental challenges. Further, one in three people is exposed to earthquakes, one billion people in 155 countries are exposed to floods, tropical cyclone winds pose a threat to 1.6 billion people in 89 countries, and the impact of extreme droughts impacts 55 million every year. Women and girls not only constitute at least half of those affected by crises, but they are also affected in distinct and disproportionate ways, as emergencies deepen existing gender inequalities and exacerbate risks, including loss of agency and self-reliance, and heightened exposure to gender-based violence. There is increasing recognition that the protection, leadership, and empowerment of crisis-affected and disaster-prone women and girls is essential for sustainable and efficient impact in humanitarian action. While this progress is evident in normative and policy frameworks, it remains to be systematically translated to action in the lives of women and girls in crisis settings and disaster-prone contexts.
