GENDER AND ENVIRONMENT:PLAN OF ACTION
The importance of gender mainstreaming in environmental and poverty eradication policies has been reflected in several forums and global agreements signed over the last 20 years. Yet, despite this, gender has been unevenly integrated into international conventions and implementation mechanisms. UNEP has a unique role in efforts to integrate gender within the policies and activities of global decision making bodies. Since 1993, successive UNEP Governing Council decisions have called upon UNEP to integrate gender and women’s perspectives more closely in its activities and policies. In 2006, UNEP called upon IUCN and WEDO to develop a strategic Gender Plan of Action to work towards the full integration of gender issues and women’s perspectives, UNEP’s Gender Plan of Action establishes strategies and targets and proposes instruments to address gender concerns within the organization. A brief target of the four core areas of the Plan of Action are given below.
[i] Secure high level commitment towards gender equality and environment
[ii] Develop a gender policy for organization
[iii] Allocate sufficient resources
[iv] Ensure that all new policies are gender sensitive.
Preamble to the CBD recognizes “the vital role that women play in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and affirm[s] the need for the[ir] full participation at all levels of policy-making and implementation for biological diversity conservation”. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and various decisions of Conferences of the Parties (COP) also highlight women’s practices, knowledge, and gender roles in food production. However, while women’s participation in activities under the Convention is identified as important, gender equality is not directly addressed. the Secretariat of the CBD developed a CBD Gender Plan of Action (GPoA) in May 2008. Based on consultations with staff from the Convention, the UN and other organizations, this Plan of Action seeks to define the role of the CBD Secretariat in efforts, both in-house and with partners at the national, regional and global levels, to overcome constraints and take advantage of opportunities to promote gender equality. it has four strategic objectives: to mainstream gender into implementation of the CBD and work of the Secretariat; to promote gender equality in achieving the objectives of the CBD; to demonstrate the benefits of gender mainstreaming in biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing from the use of genetic resources; and to increase the effectiveness of the work of the CBD Secretariat.