The Missing Voices Approach Manual

Existing gender norms and social inequalities related to status, power, and resources result in differentiated impacts of disasters. Some people, including women, girls, elderly, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities are more vulnerable to disasters than others, and they are often those missing from mainstream data gathering methods and decision-making processes. There are significant challenges for researchers to reach marginalized groups, as well as barriers faced by vulnerable and marginalized people to participate in data gathering activities. This means marginalized people’s needs are often not being heard or addressed, and their skills and experiences are not being used to inform disaster risk management. The Missing Voices Approach developed by Practical Action seeks to address these challenges and proactively listen to the experiences of marginalized individuals to inform policies and practice that affect their lives. The approach is centred on building trust and actively listening to marginalized voices in a way that prioritizes anonymity, privacy, and confidentiality. This Missing Voices Approach manual provides guidance on how to implement The Approach to capture first-person perspectives of marginalized people to inform disaster risk management.