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IUCN hosts workshop for women fishers in southern Lao PDR
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IUCN hosted a Mekong Water Dialogue in Attapeu, Lao PDR, to support and strengthen voices of women fishers in southern Lao. The workshop aimed at raising awareness about the need to increase participation by women fishers in community-managed fisheries on the Sekong River in southern Lao. Supported by a grant from CGIAR’s Challenge Program on Water & Food-Mekong (CPWF), the workshop culminated three days of field visits to six Sekong fishing villages where independent researcher Charlotte Moser from IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management conducted focus groups with more than 60 women fishers.
Lao PDR is a Low-Income Food-Deficit Country for 2013, according to FAO. Southern Lao is the region of the land-locked country most dependent on inland fisheries for food and livelihoods. More than one-half of fishers in the region are women, responsible for gathering aquatic animals from wetlands for family consumption as well as assisting their husbands in river fishing for fish sold by women in local markets.
Gender division in fishing is common in Lao. Women fish in flooded rice paddies, streams, and ponds using more traditional gear to harvest aquatic resources, such as small fish, shrimp, snails and frogs. Their wetlands catch, combined with non-marketable fish caught in the river by men fishers, constitutes up to 70 percent of protein consumed in the daily diet of families in the Sekong basin. Women are also the principle marketers of fish sold in local markets, an important source of family revenue.
Few women participate in village fishery management committees that monitor compliance with Fish Conservation Zones designed to protect fish habitats and replenish fish populations in the Sekong River. In the study villages, more than 90 percent of fishery management committee members were men who are typically appointed by village chiefs.
To identify gaps and solutions to the gender imbalance in fishery management governance, the IUCN workshop in Attapeu divided into two groups: women fishers and a group consisting of village chiefs and provincial authorities. Solutions included:
- Village-level meetings organized by district officials to discuss gender empowerment in fishery management committees;
- Training for women in leadership skills, fishery management and financial management;
- Women’s groups formed to select women candidates for village chief
Women representatives from the six villages concluded their brainstorming presentation by singing a traditional Attapeu song. See the video.
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From Texas to Turkey: Messages From Women in the World
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Vicky Markham, Founding Director of the Center for Environment and Population (CEP), shares with us a blog that she posted on the Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimist” webpage.
This Blog is related to the “Women in the World Summit” that CEP attended recently in New York. The article is focused on a range of issues relating to women, development and health, but part of it contains CEP's focus on women and climate change.
You can watch the Blog clicking here
Mexico shows progress towards an inclusive REDD +
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Gender equality, full and effective participation of rural communities, respect for rights and traditional knowledge, as well as the application of the Prior Informed Consent principle, are among the goals that Mexico is aiming to achieve through its National Strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (ENAREDD+).
Through this strategy, Mexico has become the first country in Latin America to develop an action plan that incorporates these kind of equity considerations in the implementation of the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism, which is one of the efforts encouraged by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to address this global problem.
In this context, the country has established the Mexican Program for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (MREDD+), which is supported by a number of civil society organizations in Mexico, such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Rainforest Alliance, the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN by its spanish acronym), and the Woods Hole Research Center.
To carry out this effort, MREDD+ works at the national, subnational and local levels through four components:
1. Public Policy
2. Capacity building
3. Financial Architecture
4. Monitoring, reporting and verification
Additionally, MREDD+ will cover cross-cutting themes such as: pilot projects, social and environmental safeguards, gender equality, indigenous peoples and communications, which will be incorporated into activities and strategies.
According with Alvaro Luna, MREDD+ Project Director, the preparation for REDD+ in Mexico has allowed to carry out an ample public policy process to address the dynamics of change in land use in a comprehensive way, including the relation between gender and forests, which is essential to achieve the REDD+ vision for rural development in Mexico.
IUCN support for gender mainstreaming
In order to effectively mainstream gender in its actions, MREDD+ has signed a collaboration agreement with the Global Gender Office of the International for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). One of the objectives of this collaboration is to develop an Action Plan that promotes the incorporation of a gender perspective in the context of REDD+ in Mexico.
Accordingly, the Global Gender Office of IUCN has supported MREDD+ to create the “Action Plan for Mainstreaming Gender in REDD+” (PAGeREDD+, by its spanish acronym).
The work carried out by IUCN included an analysis of the legal and institutional framework on gender and REDD+ in Mexico.
Additionally the IUCN team identified and analyzed the capacities of various sectors (government, academia and civil society) in Mexico to ensure that ENAREDD+ supports equality between women and men from the design phase through to implementation.
Once institutional capacities were identified and analyzed, IUCN organized a technical workshop from the 11th to the 12th of March 2013, in Mexico City. Through this workshop, civil society organizations and implementing partners of the MREDD+ program increased their knowledge and skills in terms of mainstreaming gender effectively.
Subsequently, during 13-15 March 2013, a multi-sector and participatory process was conducted with the aim of defining criteria, priorities and gender considerations as input to the development of the PAGeREDD+.
The PAGeREDD+ should be understood as a guiding instrument, evolving as it is implemented, so that progress made during implementation will provide inputs for the future.
Mexico and REDD +
Alongside Brazil, Mexico is one of the two largest and most megadiverse countries in the Americas. Hence, the Government of Mexico has expressed its commitment to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and has recognized the importance of conserving, managing and restoring forest ecosystems and the invaluable environmental services that they offer. Thus, the country has initiated a progressive, participatory and multisector platform to prepare its National Strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (ENAREDD+).
The ENAREDD+ will help to mitigate GHG, promoting policies, programs, measures and actions that should be incorporated in planning instruments for sustainable development.
These efforts by Mexico respond to the discussion initiated in Bali in 2007, during the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The negotiation process saw a significant advance in Cancun (COP 16) in 2010, including REDD+ as part of the agreements and deciding to continue discussions on the issue at Durban (COP17) in 2011 and in Doha (COP18) in 2012. In this sense, Mexico is also following the international agreements regarding the inclusion of a gender perspective in the REDD+ mechanism, which has been part of the Conferences of the Parties described above.
From Texas to Turkey: Messages From Women in the World
| | Hits: 62
Vicky Markham, Founding Director of the Center for Environment and Population (CEP), shares with us a blog that she posted on the Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimist” webpage.
This Blog is related to the “Women in the World Summit” that CEP attended recently in New York. The article is focused on a range of issues relating to women, development and health, but part of it contains CEP's focus on women and climate change.
You can watch the Blog clicking here
México muestra progreso hacia un REDD+ inclusivo
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La igualdad de género, la participación plena y efectiva de comunidades rurales, el respeto a los derechos y conocimientos tradicionales, así como el consentimiento previo, libre e informado, son algunos de los principios que México buscará hacer efectivos a través de su Estrategia Nacional para la Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación de los Bosques (ENAREDD+).
De esta manera, México se convierte en el primer país de América Latina que elabora un Plan de Acción que incorpora este tipo de consideraciones en procesos asociados a la implementación del mecanismo de Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación de Bosques (REDD+), el cual es uno de los esfuerzos con que la Convención Marco de Naciones Unidas para el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC) quiere hacer frente a esta problemática global.
En este contexto, se ha establecido el Programa Mexicano para la Reducción de Emisiones por la Deforestación y Degradación (MREDD+), el cual es apoyado por un conjunto de organizaciones de la sociedad civil en México, tales como The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Rainforest Alliance, el Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (FMCN), y el Centro de Investigación Woods Hole.
Para cumplir con su trabajo, MREDD+ trabaja a nivel nacional, subnacional y en áreas de acción temprana a través de cuatro componentes:
1. Política pública
2. Desarrollo de capacidades
3. Arquitectura financiera
4. Monitoreo, reporte y verificación
Adicionalmente, MREDD+ contempla temas transversales como son: proyectos piloto, salvaguardas sociales y ambientales, igualdad de género, pueblos indígenas, comunicación y esquemas de anidación, los cuáles se incorporan a sus actividades y estrategias.
De acuerdo con Alvaro Luna, Director del Proyecto MREDD+, la preparación a REDD+ en México ha permitido llevar a cabo un proceso de política pública amplio para abordar la dinámica de cambio de uso del suelo de una forma integral, incluyendo la relación de género y bosques, que es fundamental para alcanzar la visión REDD+ de México en cuanto a desarrollo rural.
Apoyo de la UICN para la incorporación del género
El MREDD+ a fin de alcanzar una efectiva transversalización de género en su accionar, firmó un convenio de colaboración con la Oficina Mundial de Género de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (UICN). Uno de los objetivos, bajo esta colaboración, contempla la elaboración de un Plan de Acción para promover la incorporación de la perspectiva de género en el contexto de REDD+ en México.
De esta manera, la Oficina Mundial de Género de la UICN, apoyó a MREDD+ en la elaboración de lo que se ha denominado Plan de Acción para la Transversalización de la Perspectiva de Género en REDD+ (PAGeREDD+).
El trabajo realizado incluyó la elaboración de un diagnóstico del marco legal e institucional sobre género y REDD+ en México. Adicionalmente se identificaron y analizaron las capacidades de distintos sectores (gobierno, academia y sociedad civil) en México para apoyar que desde el diseño y futura implementación de la ENAREDD+ se asegure la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres.
Una vez identificadas y analizadas las capacidades, se fortalecieron conocimientos y destrezas de organizaciones de la sociedad civil y contrapartes implementadoras del programa MREDD+ en cuanto a la incorporación de la perspectiva de género. Esto se realizó a través de un taller técnico efectuado entre el 11 y el 12 de marzo del 2013 en la Ciudad de México.
Posteriormente, del 13 al 15 de marzo del 2013 se realizó un proceso multisectorial y participativo con el objetivo de definir criterios, prioridades y consideraciones de género para el desarrollo del PAGeREDD+.
El PAGeREDD+ debe entenderse como un instrumento orientador, que evoluciona conforme se vaya implementando, de esta manera los avances alcanzados durante su ejecución brindarán a futuro insumos para su actualización.
México y su camino hacia REDD+
Junto con Brasil, México es uno de los dos países más grandes y megadiversos del continente americano. De aquí que el Gobierno de México haya expresado el compromiso de reducir sus emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y haya reconocido la importancia de conservar, manejar y restaurar los ecosistemas forestales y los invaluables servicios ambientales que ofrecen. De esta manera, el país ha iniciado un proceso progresivo, participativo y multisectorial para elaborar su Estrategia Nacional para la Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación de los Bosques (ENAREDD+).
La ENAREDD+ contribuirá a mitigar los GEI, planteando políticas, programas, medidas y acciones que deberán ser incorporadas en instrumentos de planeación para el desarrollo sustentable.
Los esfuerzos de México responden a las discusiones iniciadas en Bali en 2007 durante la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas para el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC). El proceso de negociación aún abierto, tuvo un avance significativo en la XVI Conferencia de las Partes (COP16) celebrada en Cancún el año 2010 al incluirse a REDD+ como parte de los acuerdos y al continuar las negociaciones en el tema en la COP17 en Durban en 2011 y en Doha en 2012.
En este sentido, México también asume los acuerdos internacionales respecto a la inclusión del enfoque de género en el mecanismo de REDD+ que han acompañado las Conferencias de las partes descritas previamente.
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