1) The document discusses addressing gender concerns in climate change projects in Southern Africa. It highlights how gender impacts vulnerability to climate change due to existing inequalities. 2) Case studies from Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique found climate change negatively impacts women farmers' food production and women's access to resources is limited. 3) The document calls for gender-responsive climate policies, governance, and energy sector reforms to empower women and ensure their needs are addressed in climate adaptation.

1. ADDRESSING GENDER CONCERNS IN
CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTS- SOUTHERN
AFRICA EXPERIENCES
Ms. Kulthoum Omari
HBS Sustainable Development Programme Manager
Southern Africa
Second Regional Summer School- Arab Middle East and
North Africa
30-04 October 2012, Amman Jordan

2. Presentation outline
• Background
• Regional circumstances and
statistics
• Gender and Climate change
impacts- Southern Africa
experience
• Gender and governance
• Example- Gender
Mainstreaming in energy
sector Botswana

3. Why does gender matter?
• Poverty: at least 1.3 billion people are living in absolute
poverty and 70% are women.
• Transmission of HIV is two times higher in women than men.
Teenage girls are 5 times more likely to be infected than boys
• Literacy- 1970 and 1990, 54% to 74% literacy. 880 million who
are still illiterate, 2/3rds are women and 1 out of every 3 adult
women still cannot read or write.
• Credit: women make 14% of borrowers from commercial
banks. Most banks require that borrowers be wage earners or
property owners who can provide acceptable collateral.
• Political: 14% women ministers & 12.7% women in
parliaments

4. Why does gender matter….cont
• Number of FHH has increased drastically in the past 10 years.
Region approx 25%, Botswana 46%
• Poorer women reside in rural areas where its economically
disadvantaged
• Women have a closer relationship with the environment due to
their activities and their role, therefore more vulnerable than
men
• Because of their roles, unequal access to natural resources and
limited decision making position and deeply entrenched
gender inequalities, women are more vulnerable to the effects
of climate change.

5. Gender differentiated impacts- Southern Africa
• Study conducted in Botswana,
South Africa, Namibia and
Mozambique
• Women farmers- 45-80% of all food
production in developing countries. >90%
of labour force engage in agriculture
• because women are primarily responsible
for food security and due to gender roles
and responsibilities, reduced yields from
rain fed agriculture impacts negatively on
women
• Access to agricultural inputs and micro
credit is skewed towards men and richer
households
• Although not sufficient, women have
developed strategies to cope with low
rainfall- use of drought tolerant crops,
diversify livelihoods etc

6. Biodiversity goods and service
Ecosystem resources play an important role in shaping the livelihood
activities. The collection of reeds, grass, making of baskets and fishing
are four of the most important GENDERED activities

7. Biodiversity goods and service…cont
Climate change will
negatively affect
biodiversity goods and
services
– Fishing
– Crafts e.g. basketry
– Fuelwood
– Water

8. General findings
Adaptation strategies and approaches will not be effective
without addressing the existing inequality and equity.
Women are still excluded from decision making on access
to and use of NR. Women still lack land rights. Unequal
power relations, etc. Need to ensure rights of women are
ensured, non-discriminatory access to resources and
equitable participation in decision making processes is
ensured at local and national level.
Climate change, magnifies existing inequalities, reinforcing
the disparity between women and men in their
vulnerability to and capability to cope with climate change.
Impacts magnified due to poverty and marginalisation.

9. Gender and Governance
• Women are often excluded from decision-making, from the household up to
the highest levels of policymaking.
• Governance institutions at global, national and local levels help to shape
perceptions of the roles that women and men play in society, as well as
determining their access to rights and resources
• Even when women are involved, they are often kept on the margins of
decision-making or are confined to ‘soft’ policy areas
• Need effective governance, underpinned by the principles, at all levels
• International, national and civil society organisations (CSOs) and citizens
play a key role – putting pressure on governments to take action to
challenge gender inequalities, and holding them accountable for the
commitments they make.

10. Gender and Governance
• UNFCCC- 30% women in delegation and 15 % of heads of
delegations.
• Install a gender machinery with sufficient resources and
decision-making power
• Gender ministry, gender desk, gender policy, gender
framework
• The Ugandan government -formulate a National Gender Policy
as a tool for realising gender mainstreaming in their country
• However, a single structure for gender mainstreaming is not
always preferable.
– Gender Ministry could be sidelined or marginalized.
– could too easily be seen as the only body, which needs to consider
gender issues.
– Gender is a crosscutting issue and every policy area has a gender angle.
Therefore every ministry and department to integrate gender into their
policies.
• Local and village level

11. Gender mainstreaming in Energy Sector
• Gender audit of energy sector
• Literature review
• Institutional analysis
• Gender disaggregated data in energy sector
• National consultative process
• Power utility- identification of gender
champion
• Gender Action Plan- resource allocation
• Implementation of GAP

12. Gender Audits
• Gender audits: An approach for identifying gender related gaps
and creating energy policies and programmes that are more
gender responsive.
• Technical, personal and institutional biases that prevent gender
equality objectives being taken forward.
– Availability of gender-related energy statistics;
– Gender organisational management and awareness, and mainstreaming
in energy-related programmes;
– Gender perspectives in national Energy Policy;
– Resource mobilisation for gender and energy related policies and
programmes; and
– The role of gender and energy in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals.

13. Gender mainstreaming in Energy Sector
• Botswana; 15.2% MHHs, 7.7% FHHs connected to electricity in
rural villages.
• Women are compelled to use biomass based sources of
energy because of lack of alternative cleaner, effective and
affordable sources of energy
• Women in southern Africa are defined as ‘energy poor’- lack
of choice in accessing adequate, safe, reliable, sustainable
energy source
• WHO estimates- indoor air pollution as major public health
issue- pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer
• However, energy needs of women not considered in energy
policy

14. Gender and energy poverty
• Decision making on energy purchase- mostly lies with men. Eg
Zim, men rejected use of solar cookers
• Time gained from modern energy- used by women in local
politics, education
• Women remain unrecognized in energy policy, planning and in
the development of new energy technologies.
• Use of gender analysis in energy planning is virtually
unknown- eg gender audits in energy sector in Botswana and
Nigeria.

15. Why Gender Mainstreaming in
Energy Programmes and Policies?
• To improve quality of life, by reducing women’s drudgery in activities such
as fuelwood collection and processing, water access, agricultural labour etc,
and improving their health.
• To increase women’s productivity and income, by providing them with the
energy access needed to work more efficiently or for new opportunities for
income generation.
• To promote gender equality and to empower women, that is, to help them
participate in activities and decision making which they have traditionally
been excluded from, and to contribute strategically to the transformation of
gender relations.
• To ensure project efficiency and sustainability, because unless men’s and
women’s needs are properly understood, project interventions may be
wrongly targeted and thus fail.

16. Gender responsive energy policies
• Major tools that are key to the achievement of sustainable
development.
– However, most of the energy policies are currently gender blind
• Botswana- the energy policy had a main focus on electrification,
which does not address the primary energy requirements for
women
• SA, there is more emphasis on providing electricity than any
other energy sources.
– Thermal energy needs, which are linked to the social roles of women,
receive less attention and funding than those energy services
traditionally associated with men’s roles.

17. Key findings and messages
• Still a lot of resistance to gender- Strategic entry point and
political commitment is key- gender champion
• Understand the interlinkages between gender, energy and
poverty must be understood from a sustainable development
perspective- MDGs (although criticized)
• The Ministry of energy to be involved and committed to the
process of GM. Advocacy at the ministry of energy and
mobilising the gender machinery in the country to support the
ministries of energy.
 Understand the role of women in the informal sector and their
contribution to the local economy. The potential benefits
arising from the use of modern energy technologies.

18. …..cont
 Participation of women in
the formulation of energy
policies that reflects their
energy demands.
 Participation of women in
the design of energy
efficient technologies
 Recognise women’s role in
the energy provision and
use and their energy needs
and demands- eg charcoal
making

19. …..cont
 Include a specific gender goal in the national energy policy. In
Botswana, the objective: To facilitate gender equity was
included in the draft energy policy
 A more balanced approach to energy services -takes women’s
needs and traditional roles into account. In SA, increasing
access to electricity will not alleviate cooking energy shortages
as poor households do not use electricity for cooking
 Ensure that the different gender groups are specifically catered
for through budgets and expenditure to cultivate, promote and
support such policies and programmes at three levels: policy
formulation, strategy and operations.

20. …..cont
 Gender-disaggregated data on male and female energy use is
also required. This can be used as a tool to enlarge the
knowledge on women’s energy use and demand.
 Income (men and women)
 Energy supply/use
 Energy needs/demand
 Employment in energy sector (men and women)
 While a lack of data is sometimes used as an excuse not to
implement gender-responsive climate policies, it is the gender-
responsive policies that are likely to provide the necessary data

21. • THANK YOU