In Uganda and Nicaragua, as in many countries, women are still shut out of forestry decisions at all levels – despite everyone agreeing that women’s participation is important. How can we ensure that gender mainstreaming is ‘process-oriented’ rather than merely ‘ticking boxes’? This presentation focuses on a project in Uganda and Nicaragua aimed at improving women's participation. CIFOR scientist Anne Larson gave this presentation on 20 June 2012 at a Rio+20 side event titled ‘Linking policy, practice and research for gender-responsive change in forestry’. The side event aimed to promote discussion and the exchange of ideas on concrete ways to address gender inequalities at different governance levels in forestry research and practice, and the risks and opportunities associated with different strategies and choice of partners.

1. Gender, Tenure and
Community Forests in
Uganda and Nicaragua
Anne Larson & Esther Mwangi
Rio de Janeiro
20 Junio, 2012

2. Goal of the research
§ To improve women s rights to
forest resources and
livelihoods through increased
participation in decision
making
§ To enhance stakeholder
uptake of policies, practices
and strategies to promote
women s participation
THINKING beyond the canopy

3. Background
§ Nicaragua § Uganda
• RAAN, indigenous • Mpigi, Masaka, Rakai
communities in 5 districts
territories • State forests
• Titled communal • Specific mention of
territories non-discrimination,
• No specific mention of women’s participation,
gender in forest policy, affirmative action,
though gender equity overcoming gender
is general principle barrier, etc. in Forest
Policy and others
THINKING beyond the canopy

4. Specific activities
§ understanding obstacles at multiple levels
(research)
§ experimenting with a community level
process to overcome obstacles (ACM)
§ promoting uptake of different vision/
perspectives, policies and methods at
multiple levels (advisory committee)
§ measuring impact/influence (our success at
the two previous points)
THINKING beyond the canopy

5. Why? Our theory of change:
§ careful coordination between research and action
partners and men and women in communities
§ joint priority setting, open information flows, local
problem solving, and capacity building
§ multiple levels of engagement
THINKING beyond the canopy

6. Research…
§ Obstacles to women s participation in decisions
• Nicaragua: “forests and gender” only being considered
now, very incipient, and women are shut out of forestry
decisions at all levels
• Uganda: in spite of legal framework, policies and
strategies, women are shut out of forestry decisions at
all levels
THINKING beyond the canopy

7. … to action (1)
Adaptive Collaborative Management:
Facilitation of processes to implement self-identified
solutions to forest-related problems focusing on
women’s inclusion and/or improved participation (next
presentation)
THINKING beyond the canopy

8. Research to action (2)
Promoting uptake: “advisory committee”
§ Rationale:
• a group of people for continued dialogue on the
project ideas
§ to give feedback,
§ to disseminate findings, and
§ to talk to each other.
§ Who?
§ Policy makers (central, local), NGO representatives,
researchers
THINKING beyond the canopy

9. Results so far
§ Guide and advise research
§ Propose ways in which research findings can be used,
presented
§ Identify opportunities for funding women s/community
projects
§ Help meet demand for services by women/ communities
—mostly tree planting (seedlings, training)
§ Identify opportunities for linking with other actors
THINKING beyond the canopy

10. Research to action (3)
Assessing influence
• Perceptions of communities, policy makers, practitioners before
(and after) research: attitudes AND behavior
• Community level survey before (and after)
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11. Opportunities and challenges
§ Challenging to integrate all of these pieces, very important to
work through committed, engaged and embedded local/
regional/ national institutions
§ Advisory committee meetings not as frequent as we would
like, but there is a lot of contact between meetings
THINKING beyond the canopy

12. Opportunities and
Challenges
§ Understanding what policy
makers really need to make
change is not so clear when it
comes to gender (culture, biases,
deep-seated beliefs) – everyone
agrees that women s
participation is important , but…
THINKING beyond the canopy

13. In conclusion
§ Changes in policies and legal frameworks are a good
start. But implementation is still weak.
§ Bureaucrats need budgets, clear strategies, training and
monitoring
§ Having impact commonly involves providing data and
information (research) and challenging interests (political
economy), but with gender issues it also involves
challenging attitudes and deep-seated beliefs
§ What is the best way for researchers to do this?
THINKING beyond the canopy

14. Questions for discussion
§ Using research to change deep seated beliefs (policy
level, community level)
§ Conditions under which ACM will work
§ How ensure sustainability beyond the time of facilitation
§ Women as representatives of women s interests
§ Changing the perception of youth
§ How ensure gender mainstreaming be process
oriented rather than merely tick boxes ?
THINKING beyond the canopy

15. Thank
you!
THINKING beyond the canopy