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I will never forget the time an earthquake shook Dodoma in 2002 when I was a parliamentarian in my home country of Tanzania. I had no idea how to react to the tremors and instinctively ran outside. Though I was fortunate that the tremors caused minimal damage, they brought home to me in a deeply personal way just how fragile we are. The earthquake that devastated Haiti brought these memories back vividly, and my heart went out to my many colleagues and the people of Haiti who have been deeply affected.

For many more millions across the world, the tragedy provoked a profound sense of empathy and a generous outpouring of aid. This time of solidarity is also a moment to reflect on the impact of disasters all across the world, the role of the United Nations and our collective responsibility to respond -- not only to immediate needs, but for a sustainable future for the survivors.

Too often, those hardest hit are women and children. In search of shelter, mothers walk long distances with their children in their arms and their possessions on their heads, their necks swollen from the pressure. Families are torn apart. Children who are too young to understand what is happening are often separated from their parents in the mayhem.

When beleaguered women arrive at camps set up by aid agencies, they often face the same adverse division of labour that they have long suffered. They are still responsible for the health and well-being of their families, but now under drastically worsened circumstances.

Challenged by the most difficult of conditions, women struggle to find shelter, clothing and food for their vulnerable circle of loved ones. This often means they must venture into unknown territory where they are open to new risks, from robbery to sexual abuse.

Perhaps no survivors are more heart-wrenching to see than the mothers who are debilitated by childbirth-related injuries. Try imagining for a second that you are expecting, while fearing not only for your own life but also for the delicate life growing inside you.

The heart-wrenching stories of pregnant women in disaster situations -- giving birth in cars and tents, on park benches and bare ground, with no water, much less medical care -- are a gripping reminder that the cycle of life does not slow or stop just because a disaster hits. It is unacceptable that the life-giving role of women is suddenly a life-threatening one.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 63,000 pregnant Haitian women are expected to deliver in the aftermath of the earthquake. We are racing to protect them -- and the generation of children they will bring into the world to inherit the country's future. The Secretary-General has shown tremendous leadership, moving swiftly soon after the earthquake to mobilize the United Nations family as well as the international community to help the people of Haiti during this difficult time.

Acute suffering unfolds in the aftermath of a disaster, but there are many steps that can be taken to prevent and reduce the effects. We must pay special attention to the needs of women and their children when we plan. Why do we group women and children together? Because whatever a mother suffers, so will her children.

If a mother is hungry, her babies cannot nurse at her breast. If a mother has no shelter, her children must sleep in the open. If a mother must fetch firewood or water, her children will accompany her on the task. And if a mother is attacked, her children may suffer either violence or the invisible, but no less traumatic, blow of witnessing the terrible ordeal.
We may never be able to eradicate natural disasters but, with the right prevention and special attention to the needs of women and children, we will go a long way towards reducing their effects.

If we can imagine the fear of an expectant mother, we can also envision a world where thorough planning, special attention to her needs, and care for her children set the stage for the safest possible delivery, even under emergency conditions.

If we understand the special needs of women, we can take steps to meet them. The key is to see disaster in all its dimensions, and to prevent and respond to its effects as broadly as possible. This requires applying a gender perspective during the planning phase. Disasters demand that we provide not only food, but medical care, education and a means to a productive future.

These are some of the elements critical to the kind of rebuilding we are striving for in Haiti, whose people have suffered such a succession of blights. We must help them rebuild a society that is more resilient than before the earthquake struck.