RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS
What IS AN RGA?
A Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) provides timely, evidence-based insights into how crises affect women, men, girls, and boys differently. Developed to inform humanitarian response and recovery, an RGA highlights gender-specific needs, risks, and capacities in the aftermath of an emergency or crisis. It is intended to support humanitarian actors, government partners and donors in designing inclusive, gender-responsive interventions that keep vulnerable populations in mind.
Hurricane Melissa January 2026
This Jamaica Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) provides a focused overview of gender, age, and diversity dynamics to inform humanitarian response efforts following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on October 27, 2025. The RGA highlights how women, men, girls, and boys, as well as LGBTQ+ individuals and other vulnerable groups, are affected differently by the crisis and face distinct risks, needs, and capacities. It is intended as a practical, evidence based tool to support gender responsive planning, coordination, and implementation of relief and recovery efforts, ensuring that humanitarian action in Jamaica promotes equity, inclusion, protection, and long term community resilience.
Special thanks to Holly Robinson, Author from the Gender in Emergencies Group, for her leadership and guidance, and to Sharon Johnson Simms, MBA, BSc (Statistics and Economics), for her editorial support. We also extend our sincere appreciation to our Jamaican partner Civil Society Organizations for their invaluable insights and contributions to this Rapid Gender Analysis.
CARIBBEAN GENDER IN BRIEF
What is A Gender in Brief?
A Gender In Brief (GIB) is a concise, two-page document commonly used in humanitarian and development contexts to provide a snapshot of key gender issues within a specific setting. It compiles existing information including sex- and age-disaggregated data and analysis of gender roles, relations, and challenges to inform immediate programming and decision-making until a more comprehensive assessment can be conducted. Serving as a foundation for a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA), it outlines the state of gender dynamics before a crisis, helping to identify how the situation has shifted and what gender-related issues are likely to emerge. This supports more targeted, equitable, and effective humanitarian responses.
This Gender in Brief for Jamaica provides a focused overview of gender dynamics to support humanitarian aid organizations responding to the devastating impacts of Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on 27th October, 2025. It highlights that women, girls, men, boys, LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable populations are differently affected by the crisis and have distinct vulnerabilities and therefore distinct needs. The brief serves as a practical tool to guide gender-responsive planning, coordination, and delivery of aid – ensuring that recovery and relief efforts promote equity, inclusion, and long-term resilience across communities.
Special thanks to research contributor Sharon Johnson-Simms, MBA, BSc (Statistics and Economics), and editors Dr. Angelique V. Nixon, Senior Lecturer, IGDS UWI and Kathleen Stroud-Mohammed, Organizational Development Consultant, and the team at the Caribbean Gender Alliance for their invaluable input and feedback on this Gender in Brief for Jamaica.