Prioritise marginalised communities in disaster preparedness, equitable relief and economic justice

Two women marooned by the Cyclone Ditwah in Wellampitiya being helped by a soldier - Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana

By The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice

It has been many days of relentless rains and winds devastating the island as Cyclonic Storm Ditwah approached and made landfall in Sri Lanka. At the time of writing, we are heartbroken that 355 people have lost their lives and 366 people are missing. Nearly 15,000 to 25,000 homes are damaged, and more than 59,000 families have been displaced.  

The highest casualties were reported from Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale and Nuwara Eliya districts, from areas especially prone to landslides and home to already marginalised and vulnerable working class tea plantation workers. Telecommunication lines are down in many districts, leaving people without a way to call for help. A state of emergency was declared on 28 November. First responders working tirelessly have been providing support and an outpouring of community-led efforts by volunteers. However, with the prevailing conditions, the human impact and death toll are expected to increase. 

The lack of information, transparency, and coordination have left communities in the most vulnerable areas stranded with no help. Although dedicated disaster management systems have been in place in Sri Lanka since the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, these systems turned out to be ill-prepared. Evacuation notices were issued, often only after roads were flooded, without adequate information on the infrastructure and support people require to move to shelters with confidence.  

Official Government communications, including those from Disaster Management Centres and the Meteorology Department, are issued in Sinhala, even when addressing affected regions that were primarily Tamil-speaking. Default practices of institutional racism creeped in even at a time of dire need. The lack of a trained and equipped civilian disaster response cadre has meant dependence on the military at this time. Whilst recognising the efforts and humanitarian motives of all rescue efforts underway, we note for the future the need to move towards civilian systems.  

Impact on the marginalised

Communities who are already marginalised and vulnerable are the worst hit by the disaster. Low-income and working-class households are bearing the brunt. Households’ dependent on fishing are unable to go out to fish; those who have home-based livelihoods such as food preparation, basket-weaving, packing spices, sewing, etc., cannot earn due to disruption to transport and access to markets. Those dependent on agriculture have lost their entire crop.  

Free Trade Zone workers are adversely affected. Workers living and working in and around the industrial waste canals are exposed to deteriorating water sanitation and severe hygiene risks. It is shocking that even in these extremely perilous conditions, workers are being forced to work. 

Plantation workers have lost homes, loved ones and continue to battle landslides occurring in close proximity to one another leaving barely any room to escape. Women workers, especially domestic workers, have to juggle the impossible choice between going to work and attending to increased care work, including addressing structural damage to their homes. 

The impact on low-income and working-class households is not short term as incomes of the entire season’s produce are lost and damage to infrastructure and equipment will take a lot more time to replace. 

Along with the poor and working class communities, other marginalised groups are entirely invibilised. Queer and trans people, especially those living without familial support or are forced to live in unsafe homes, are neglected at times of disaster. Access to shelter and evacuation is challenging at best and often impossible for many reasons, including the lack of identity documents that affirm their preferred gender/name.  Along with such obstacles, the wrath of social stigma puts this group at the very bottom of the rung, especially during crises when many are scrambling for the limited support being provided.  

People living with disabilities, especially women, are stranded when Government announcements ask people to go to shelters without any awareness, sensitivity or logistical support for people with prosthetic limbs, or wheelchairs, or those who are visually or hearing challenged to navigate flood waters, landslides and cyclonic winds to reach a shelter. None of the shelters have basic facilities - toilets and other access - for those living with disabilities. We know from past experience that persons living with disabilities cannot scramble for relief packs, even if they are able to reach temporary shelters.  

In post-disaster contexts, there is often  an increase in domestic and sexual violence. While existing hotlines have been publicised by the State, they are ill-equipped to deal with the increased demand. Women who attempted to access emergency support were  sent away showing the unpreparedness of the response structures.  

Official Government communications, including those from Disaster Management Centre and the Meteorology Department, are issued in Sinhala, even when addressing affected regions that were primarily Tamil-speaking. Default practices of institutional racism creeped in even at a time of dire need. The lack of a trained and equipped civilian disaster response cadre has meant dependence on the military at this time. Whilst recognising the efforts and humanitarian motives of all rescue efforts underway, we note for the future the need to move towards civilian systems

Women disproportionately bear the burden of household readiness such as addressing the distress of occupying less permanent structures, securing food, preparing to evacuate, caring for the elderly, the sick and the young, extending support to neighbours and extended family, protecting personal belongings and holding space for fears and anxieties - their own and of others. Yet there is barely any emergency psychosocial support and communities are not brought in to participate in building coping and resilience mechanisms.   

The climate crisis is further aggravated by an economic structure that marginalises the poor.  The failure to establish long-term safety nets for vulnerable and marginalised communities become acutely visible at such times. Within a year, we have survived three climate disasters -the tropical storm Fengal in November last year, the Montha and Ditwah cyclones in October and November this year.  Being forced to live in weak, exposed structures, in vulnerable areas such as landslide prone mountains, flood prone low-lying outskirts of towns and along river banks/canals is largely due to poverty and landlessness. 

The housing inequalities are socio-historical and systemic. Add to this gross inequalities related to livelihood, access to transport and health infrastructures, and social stigma, it is clear that the vulnerabilities of people are structural and infrastructural. 

Policy priorities

In this context, we are disappointed that the NPP Government’s policies reflected in the 2026 budget have failed, yet again, to prioritise social protection. Cutting off people from social protection or describing the cash transfers as begging, as Minister Sunil Handunetti has done, demonstrates the disconnect between policymakers and people’s needs. Social protection programs are not merely poverty alleviation. It is a safety net for all citizens. The need for it to be universal is clearly proven during times such as this, where  universal social protection could have softened the blow of  climate disasters to some extent.  

Universal social protection must be considered as part and parcel of disaster preparedness and post-disaster economic and social resilience. This resilience is built through these systems as a sustainable and reliable connection between the state and citizens. Social protection ensures access to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, meal and nutrition programs, to climate resilient housing and to adaptation financing to support livelihoods.  

In the past few days we’ve also witnessed devastating natural disasters in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The global debt burden mirrors the climate crisis and is disproportionately upon the feeble shoulders of poorer countries such as Sri Lanka. People are barely surviving the economic crisis and rising costs of living while more than 50% of households are heavily in debt. 

 The Government must account for this reality and review its economic priorities, of its continuing inhumane austerity policies and harsh debt repayment commitments. Evidence strongly shows that there is a likely causation between impacts of climate disasters and increasing debt burdens. As FCEJ, we strongly reiterate that  the NPP Government must renegotiate the conditions stipulated by the IMF and other lenders in the coming months. The Government must choose to be on the side of its people and not side with its creditors as the nation  struggles to emerge from this disaster. 

Urgent demands: 

• Rescue and relief efforts must be sensitive to those who are already marginalised. Buildings, particularly schools which are used as temporary shelters, must be equipped to support large numbers of people, including having access to clean water, clean toilets, cooking and eating facilities, safe space for feeding mothers and disability access. 
• All state communication relating to disasters and relief must be in all languages. 
• Involve communities in decision-making processes of disaster response and relief work, particularly those most vulnerable. All state and community level decision-making bodies must have at least 50% women representatives. 
• Plans for return, rebuilding, and restitution must take into account the impact on women, informal workers, their families and on those living with disabilities.  
• Provide special support lines for socially stigmatised or invibilised communities such as LGBTQIA+ communities and people living with disabilities. These support lines must have officers who are sensitive to the needs of these communities.  
• Special effective support lines must be urgently activated to address gender based violence and child protection. 
• Establish permanent Grama Niladhari level disaster preparedness committees led by women, youth, disability advocates, estate workers, and local first responders.  
• Communities should be equipped with solar powered sirens and megaphone announcement systems to ensure timely warnings even when electricity and communication networks fail. 
• Existing mechanisms such as the Ministry for Disaster Management must be strengthened to fulfill their mandate rather than replacing their role with armed forces in the face of disaster.  
• Sri Lanka’s disaster preparedness must receive serious attention given the increasing number and damages inflicted by cyclones and other natural disasters over the island. Climate change mitigation, food security, continuous support and programs for non-loans based livelihood and infrastructure adaptation for disasters must be launched. 
• Many families in the hill country live on unstable slopes. A long-term program is needed that ensures safe housing, right to land and stable access to livelihood with the meaningful participation of affected households in planning and execution 
• Launch universal social protection schemes that can efficiently and meaningfully provide a cushion in times of disasters.  
• Review development, investment and infrastructure projects for climate impact and assess the contribution of such projects to risk to land, resources and people in times of disaster.  
• Urgent negotiations should be initiated with the IMF and other creditors to cancel debt repayment and reverse austerity policies in this crisis context.

 

​(The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice is a collective of feminist economists, scholars, feminist activists, university students and lawyers that came together in April 2022 to understand, analyse and give voice to policy recommendations based on lived realities in the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka. It could be reached via email at [email protected])