Diversity (gender, age)

Rather than a homogenous group, affected people are made up of different groups, based on gender and age, but also beliefs, ethnic origins, etc. In order to avoid negative impacts on certain groups and to ensure that programmes are appropriate and relevant, aid actors need to be aware of, understand and recognise the diversity within populations in all crisis and post-crisis operational contexts.

Within the aid sector, the question of gender and the role of women has been present for numerous years and has become a cross-cutting issue in programmes. However, other groups can have specific needs (young men, the elderly, children, the disabled, etc.) depending on the context. Several characteristics have therefore been gradually taken into account in aid programmes as part of a global approach to diversity, and this needs to be improved further to increase the relevance of responses.