On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 5:30 pm PT, the Pacific Council will host a conversation in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) examining how gender inequality is not merely reproduced in the aftermath of conflict and catastrophe but frequently intensifies, and what a more equitable approach to recovery looks like in practice.

Drawing on the IRC's frontline work in Latin America, the discussion will address the recent twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026, killing more than 5,500 people, and the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that devastated Chocó, Colombia's poorest region, in August 2026. In both contexts, women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence, barriers to reproductive and mental health services, and a steep rise in unpaid care burdens as communities attempt to rebuild. The discussion will explore how institutions can move beyond gender-neutral humanitarian frameworks toward approaches that address the structural conditions leaving women exposed, under-resourced, and underrepresented in post-crisis recovery.

In addition to the conversation, the IRC is hosting a pre-event cocktail hour at Le Great Outdoor Restaurant, within walking distance of the event venue, from 4 pm to 5 pm. Please indicate upon registration if you are interested in attending. 

Why It's Important

• Prior to the June 2026 earthquakes, Venezuela recorded the second-highest maternal mortality rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 227 deaths per 100,000 live births, and women's labor force participation had fallen to just 39 percent. Disaster response that ignores these baselines risks locking women further out of recovery.
• Women and girls dependent on aid for food and shelter face heightened exposure to transactional relationships with those distributing resources, a pattern documented repeatedly across post-disaster contexts but rarely integrated into first-response planning.
• The New Humanitarian reports that Colombia's earthquake hit at a particularly challenging moment for humanitarian access, compounding the difficulties of reaching women in remote and conflict-affected communities who are statistically among the most underserved in any emergency response.

Speakers & Facilitators include:

• Madlin Sadler, Chief Operating Officer, International Rescue Committee
• Presider: Veena Reddy, Legal Advisor, International Joint Commission & Former Executive Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID 

To register, please complete the form below or follow the link here. If you have any questions, email events@pacificcouncil.org. 

Guest Speaker

Madlin Sadler is a humanitarian thought leader and a staunch advocate for women and girls caught in crisis. With over a decade of experience at the IRC, her leadership is characterized by an innovative, results-driven agenda that enables the IRC to pioneer solutions and function at its highest capability. Madlin moved from London to New York with her husband and four children in 2013 to join the IRC, having previously worked as a Special Adviser in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of the Environment. Her prior roles include Director of Social Impact and External Affairs for Mishcon de Reya, Director of Governmental Affairs at Ford Motor Company, and Policy Advisor in the European Parliament.

Presider

Veena Reddy is an attorney and leader in international development. She was a career Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development, serving in leadership positions in Washington, India, Cambodia, and Haiti in addition to legal roles in Pakistan, Central Asia, and Central America, covering a wide range of international policy and development issues. While serving as Deputy Director of USAID's office in Haiti, she oversaw the $90 million U.S. government response to Hurricane Matthew, which reached over 1 million people with life-saving support. As USAID Director in Cambodia and India, she also led U.S. response efforts to the global pandemic in those countries.