Who is listening to the women of the Gulf Coast?
The silence about their concerns is deafening in this week of fifth-anniversary commemorative events
about Hurricane Katrina. The Katrina story—and now the BP disaster—has been a story focused
exclusively on race, class and age, as if women and men, boys and girls are not also embodied in a
gendered social world. Who is listening to women in the fifth year and fifth month of these two great
American tragedies?

More information: Katrina Women Plus Five

The ministers, met on the third and final day of a high-level ‘training of trainers’ workshop for senior policy makers from across Mexico’s states and sectors, run by the Global Gender and Climate Change Alliance (GGCA), in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.

The workshops aim to raise awareness and capacity in dealing with climate change challenges through an improved response to the differing needs of men and women. They demonstrate Mexico’s willingness to implement policies that will mainstream gender equality in climate change initiatives at national, regional and international levels.

As Lorena Aguilar, IUCN’s Senior Advisor on Gender, explains “Through its history, Mexico has been a champion in the promotion of gender equality, and is looked up to by other countries, as a guide and inspiration in this area.  Therefore, establishing alliances with Mexican decision makers related to climate change is vital to ensure that women’s voices are heard in climate change negotiations, both nationally and globally.”

Similar training sessions held by GGCA and IUCN in 2009 were attended by over 120 experts from more than 45 countries in 2010 and the resulting global network of gender and climate change advocates continues to grow. The training content is based on the IUCN/GGCA “Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change” and covers such important issues as: the links between gender, climate change and poverty; gender and adaptation strategies; gender and REDD; and gender and related funding mechanisms.

Launching the landmark training manual, Julia Morton-Lefèvre, IUCN’s Director-General, and Winnie Byanyima, Director of UNDP’s Gender Team explain the crucial importance of this issue to the planet’s future: “…women and men experience climate change differently, and…inequalities worsen women’s coping capacity. It has also been acknowledged that women are important actors of change and holders of significant knowledge and skills related to mitigation, adaptation, and the reduction of risks in the face of climate change, making them crucial agents in this area. Consequently, there is an urgent need to adopt a gender-responsive approach towards climate change policy making and programming”.

During the first 2 days of the training, high-level politicians from the Ministry of Environment participated in the training workshops, followed by senior representatives from NGOs such as Greenpeace and Oxfam. The three-day programme closed on Friday with discussions with the women’s business network of Mexico, at which the Minister of Environment will be present.

As Magdy Martinez-Soliman, UNDP Representative in Mexico, explained at the workshops, addressing gender and climate change together is more than just dealing with two separate challenges in parallel: “On numerous occasions, it has been reiterated that the linkages between both themes are not just about a simple exercise in addition. It is not just a case of lumping gender issues together with those of climate change and vice versa. I am sure that everyone here will agree that the climatic crisis and the inequalities between men and women are problems of development, and therefore development has the answers. Consequently, we need tools to tackle both problems in defining appropriate public policy.”

Senior policy makers and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered in Mexico last Thursday to learn more about how improved equality between men and women can better prepare Mexico to deal with climate change.

The participants, including the experts from Oxfam and Greenpeace, met on the second day of a four-day ‘training of trainers’ workshop for senior policy makers from across Mexico’s states and sectors, run by the Global Gender and Climate Change Alliance (GGCA), in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.

The workshops aim to raise awareness and capacity in dealing with climate change challenges through an improved response to the differing needs of men and women. They demonstrate Mexico’s willingness to implement policies that will mainstream gender equality in climate change initiatives at national, regional and international levels.

As Lorena Aguilar, IUCN’s Senior Advisor on Gender, explains “Through its history, Mexico has been a champion in the promotion of gender equality, and is looked up to by other countries, as a guide and inspiration in this area.  Therefore, establishing alliances with Mexican decision makers related to climate change is vital to ensure that women’s voices are heard in climate change negotiations, both nationally and globally.”

Similar training sessions held by GGCA and IUCN in 2009 were attended by over 120 experts from more than 45 countries in 2010 the resulting global network of gender and climate change advocates continues to grow. The training content is based on the IUCN/GGCA “Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change” and covers such important issues as: the links between gender, climate change and poverty; gender and adaptation strategies; gender and REDD; and gender and related funding mechanisms.

Launching the landmark training manual, Julia Morton-Lefèvre, IUCN’s Director-General, and Winnie Byanyima, Director of UNDP’s Gender Team explain the crucial importance of this issue to the planet’s future: “…women and men experience climate change differently, and…inequalities worsen women’s coping capacity. It has also been acknowledged that women are important actors of change and holders of significant knowledge and skills related to mitigation, adaptation, and the reduction of risks in the face of climate change, making them crucial agents in this area. Consequently, there is an urgent need to adopt a gender-responsive approach towards climate change policy making and programming”.

On Wednesday, high-level politicians from the ministry of environment participated in the training workshops. Friday’s sessions were then attended by senior policy makers from Mexico’s states. The four-day programme closed on Saturday with discussions with the women’s business network of Mexico, at which the Minister of Environment will be present.

The ‘training of trainers’ workshop launched a four-day programme for senior policy makers from across Mexico’s states and sectors, run by the Global Gender and Climate Change Alliance (GGCA), in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The workshop was also organized by UNDP Mexico and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.

The workshops aim to raise awareness and capacity in dealing with climate change challenges through an improved response to the differing needs of men and women. They demonstrate Mexico’s willingness to implement policies that will mainstream gender equality in climate change initiatives at national, regional and international levels.

Similar training sessions held by GGCA and IUCN in 2009 were attended by over 120 experts from more than 45 countries in 2010 the resulting global network of gender and climate change advocates continues to grow. The training content is based on the IUCN/GGCA “Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change” and covers such important issues as: the links between gender, climate change and poverty; gender and adaptation strategies; gender and REDD; and gender and related funding mechanisms.

Launching the landmark training manual, Julia Morton-Lefèvre, IUCN’s Director-General, and Winnie Byanyima, Director of UNDP’s Gender Team explain the crucial importance of this issue to the planet’s future: “…women and men experience climate change differently, and…inequalities worsen women’s coping capacity. It has also been acknowledged that women are important actors of change and holders of significant knowledge and skills related to mitigation, adaptation, and the reduction of risks in the face of climate change, making them crucial agents in this area. Consequently, there is an urgent need to adopt a gender-responsive approach towards climate change policy making and programming”.

Later in the week, senior policy makers at the state level and from NGOs such as Oxfam and Greenpeace will participate in the training workshops, along with members of gender and environment networks. The four-day programme will close with discussions with the women’s business network of Mexico, at which the Minister of Environment will be present.

Training Manual on Gender and Climate Change

The present Guidelines for Mainstreaming Gender into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (hereinafter Guidelines) are based on the fact that successful conservation policies can not neglect the wider socio-economic setting of societies. These Guidelines assist the development of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to meet the objectives of biodiversity conservation and simultaneously the promotion of gender equality. They provide general guidance to Parties on the inclusion of gender considerations into their existing and forthcoming NBSAPs.

The Guidelines build on the experience of the 166 NBSAPs submitted to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) up to July 2008. The actual state of play of gender considerations within NBSAPs makes clear that more guidance on gender mainstreaming is necessary. Gender considerations within most NBSAPs are still largely absent or limited to some ad-hoc and fragmented references to gender equality and/or women.

The Guidelines are in two modules.

Module 1“Linking Conservation of Biological Diversity and Gender Equality” explains the purpose and goals of the Guidelines, the background of their development, the international framework they fit in, how gender and biological diversity are mutually enhancing goals creating a win-win situation, gender issues relevant for conservation, the added value of gender mainstreaming into national conservation policies and the importance of gender mainstreaming into NBSAPs.

Module 2 “Mainstreaming Gender into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans – Process and Content” provides practical step-by-step guidance; first, about the incorporation of a gender equality perspective into the NBSAP development process; second, about making gender equality visible, in a systematic and coherent way, in the text of both national strategies and action plans. The recommendations presented concerning the procedure of developing NBSAPs should also be implemented in the course of their further revisions. Finally, in Annex 4, a check lists booklet is included, summarizing all the check lists introduced by the present Guidelines, in order to facilitate the work of the NBSAP planners in the development and implementation processes.

The users of the present Guidelines are invited to share their experiences in mainstreaming gender into NBSAPs and any suggestions with the authors of this document.

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CBD TS 49 Guías de Género

La presente Guía para la transversalización de género en las Estrategias Nacionales de Biodiversidad y Planes de Acción (de aquí en adelante, la Guía) se basa en el principio de que las políticas de conservación para que sean exitosas no pueden ignorar el contexto socioeconómico de las sociedades. Esta Guía brinda asistencia para el desarrollo de las Estrategias Nacionales de Biodiversidad y Planes de Acción (ENBPA) para alcanzar los objetivos de conservación de la biodiversidad y la promoción de la igualdad de género,

en forma simultánea. La misma provee una orientación general para las Partes sobre la inclusión de las consideraciones de género en sus ENBPA, tanto en las existentes como en las futuras.

La Guía se basa en la experiencia de 166 ENBPA que han sido presentadas a la Secretaria de la Convención de Diversidad Biológica (SCDB) hasta julio del 2008. La situación actual de las consideraciones de género en las ENBPA puso en evidencia que se requiere una orientación más clara con respecto a la transversalización de género. En la mayoría de las ENBPA, las consideraciones de género están ausentes o se limitan a algunas referencias fragmentadas sobre la igualdad de género y/o las mujeres.

La Guía está compuesta por dos módulos.

Modulo 1 “Vinculando la Conservación de la Biodiversidad con la Igualdad de genero” explica el propósito y los objetivos de la Guía, los antecedentes de su desarrollo, el marco internacional en el cual se ubican, la manera en la cual el género y la biodiversidad son metas complementarias que generan una situación en la que ambos sectores se ven beneficiados, consideraciones de género relevantes para la conservación, el valor agregado de la transversalización de género en las políticas nacionales de conservación y la importancia de la transversalización de género en las ENBPA.

El Modulo 2 “La transversalización de género en las Estrategias Nacionales de Biodiversidad y Planes de Acción – Proceso y contenido” provee una orientación practica, paso a paso sobre; en primer lugar, la incorporación de una perspectiva de igualdad de género en el proceso de desarrollo de las ENBPA; en segundo lugar, hace visible la igualdad de género, de una manera sistemática y coherente, en los textos de las estrategias nacionales y de los planes de acción. Las recomendaciones que se presentan referentes al procedimiento para el desarrollo de las ENBPA, deben también, ser implementadas durante la preparación de futuras versiones. Finalmente, en el anexo 4, se incluye una lista de control, la cual resume todas las listas de control que fueron introducidas en la presente Guía, con el fin de facilitar el trabajo de los(as) planificadores(as) de las ENBPA en los proceso de desarrollo e implementación.

Invitamos a los(as) usuarios(as) de la presente Guía a compartir con los(as) autores(as) de este documento, sus experiencias referentes a la transversalización de género en las ENBPA y sus sugerencias.

The gendered dimensions of disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change.

This a publication produced by UNDP Pacific Centre on the gendered dimensions of climate change, presenting experiences from various Pacific islands.  In terms of integrating a Pacific perspective into the International Forum.

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Las dimensiones de género en la gestión del riesgo de desastres y adaptación al cambio climático.

Esta publicación producida por el PNUD para el Pacífico Central nos relata la importancia de las magnitudes de género concernientes al cambio climático y a su vez, nos presenta distintas experiencias de varias islas del Pacífico. En términos de integración de la perspectiva del Pacífico en el Foro Internacional.

El documento adjunto se encuentra en inglés.

Please find attached an excellent report from the Red Cross on Gender and Disaster Management. These guidelines are a tribute to the women and men who have worked hard in the most challenging humanitarian environments possible, whether as people affected by
disasters or as contributors to improving the lives of others, to ensure that gender equality and diversity have remained at the heart of effective disaster response, recovery and risk reduction work.

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Esta guía representa también un homenaje a las mujeres y hombres que han trabajado arduamente en la mayoría de los entornos humanitarios posibles, ya sea como personas afectadas por desastres o como contribuyentes en la mejora de la vida de los demás, para que la igualdad de género y la diversidad se mantengan en el corazón de la respuesta eficaz a los desastres, la recuperación y el trabajo de reducción de riesgo.

Este documento se encuentra únicamente en su versión en inglés.

Adjunto encontrarán la Memoria del Taller Regional sobre Género y Cambio Climático llevado a cabo los días 10 y 11 de mayo del presente año.

La memoria también la pueden descargar directamente del siguiente link: http://www.ruta.org/archivos-de-usuario/genero/ERCC/TallerRegional/memoriaTallerRegionalGeneroERCC.pdf

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Regional Workshop on Gender and Climate Change

Attached is the Report of the Regional Workshop on Gender and Climate Change held on May 10 to of 2010.
The memory also can be downloaded directly from the following link: http://www.ruta.org/archivos-de-usuario/genero/ERCC/TallerRegional/memoriaTallerRegionalGeneroERCC.pdf

The document is only available on spanish.

Ifejika Speranza, Chinwe  (2010): Resilient adaptation to climate change in African agriculture

Bonn: Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / German Development Institute (Studies 54), ISBN: 978-3-88985-489-6

Available online at:

http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3_e.nsf/%28ynDK_contentByKey%29/ANES-84NGFJ/$FILE/Studies%2054.pdf

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El Instituto Alemán de Desarrollo ha publicado un nuevo estudio que incluye una herramienta de análisis y de instrumento operativo, “The Resilience Check” con un fuerte énfasis en la reducción de las desigualdades de género:

Ifejika Speranza, Chinwe (2010): adaptación flexible al cambio climático en la agricultura africana

Bonn: Institut für Deutsches Entwicklungspolitik / Instituto Alemán de Desarrollo (Estudios 54), ISBN: 978-3-88985-489-6

Disponible en línea en: http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3_e.nsf/%28ynDK_contentByKey%29/ANES-84NGFJ/$FILE/Studies%2054.pdf

We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter! Best regards,  Marion and Uta from the GenderCC Team in Berlin.

http://www.gendercc.net/metanavigation/home.html

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GenderCC Boletín mayo 2010

Bienvenidos al primer número del Boletín GenderCC-, que está destinado a mantener información actualizada sobre Género y Cambio Climático en relación con nuestras actividades y al mismo tiempo ofrecerles las últimas noticias de género y estudios sobre cambio climático en general para toda la comunidad. Además, periódicamente se presentarán retratos de nuestros miembros y su respectivo trabajo. Para obtener información más actual , por favor visite nuestro sitio web. También nos gustaría invitarlos a que contribuyan con nuestro boletín informativo. Por favor, envíe sus artículos a: <newsletter@gendercc.net / mc / componer? A = newsletter@gendercc.net> o bien visitenos haciendo click en el siguiente vínculo: http://www.gendercc.net/metanavigation/home.html

Esperamos que disfrute leyendo nuestro boletín de noticias! Saludos cordiales, Marion y Uta del equipo GenderCC en Berlín.