The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) with the technical assistance of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Sri Lanka and the financial support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia (DFAT) launched the very first Handbook on Gender, Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Disasters in 2022.

The handbook provides practical guidance to policymakers, DMC response staff and community groups to plan, coordinate, implement, monitor and evaluate essential actions for a gender equitable disaster response. The book contributes to the implementation of the policy framework and National Plan of Action to address Sexual and Gender based Violence (SGBV) in Sri Lanka, initiated by the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment. Following the launch of the handbook, DMC and UNFPA conducted several follow-up actions, including a national level Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop and subnational level capacity building programmes, at all levels across all sectors of interventions, to effectively address SGBV during emergencies.

Under the guidance of the Director General of the Disaster Management Centre, Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe the subnational level capacity building programmes were conducted during the months of November and December 2022, targeting the most vulnerable and disaster prone districts. Initially six (6) districts namely Kalutara, Ratnapura, Galle, Kegalle, Badulla and Kandy were selected. The programmes were conducted at each district targeting three (3) different target groups i.e. decision makers, disaster response staff and the community, who get involved in emergency situations and disasters.

A total of 15 training programmes were completed by December 2022 and altogether around 612 participants from Kalutara, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Galle and Badulla districts were capacitated on Gender, Sexual, and Gender Based Violence in disasters.