2. Presentation Outline
• Background – Gender concepts
and policy frameworks
• Why is gender equality and
women’s empowerment
relevant for REDD+?
• Common entry points for
integrating gender equality and
women’s empowerment
concepts
4. Gender Definitions
Gender
• Refers to social attributes & opportunities associated with
being male & female & the relationships between women &
men & girls & boys. These attributes, opportunities &
relationships are socially constructed & are learned.
Gender Equality
• The equal rights, responsibilities & opportunities of women &
men & girls & boys. Equality does not mean that women &
men will become the same but that women’s & men’s rights,
responsibilities & opportunities will not depend on whether
they are born male or female.
5. Gender Definitions (cont.)
Gender Sensitive
• Gender sensitive includes the systematic integration of gender
transformative interventions to reduce gender gaps & inequalities,
& to advance gender equality & women’s empowerment.
Women’s Empowerment
• The ability of a woman to have equal capabilities (i.e. education &
health) & equal access to resources & opportunities (i.e. land &
employment), as well as have the agency to use those rights,
capabilities & opportunities to make strategic choices & decisions.
6. Human Rights & International Policies
• Various human rights treaties offer specific policy guidance
for mainstreaming gender in REDD+
– Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)
– United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (UNDRIP)
• The UNFCCC has raised the profile of gender in climate
change debates, including on REDD+
– Cancun Agreements
7. UNFCCC Cancun Agreements
“Also requests developing country Parties, when developing
and implementing their national strategies or action plans,
to address, inter alia, drivers of deforestation and forest
degradation, land tenure issues, forest governance issues,
gender considerations and the safeguards identified in
paragraph 2 of annex I to this decision, ensuring the full and
effective participation of relevant stakeholders, inter alia,
indigenous peoples and local communities;”
Paragraph 72, Decision 1/CP.16
8. Part II:
Why is gender equality and
women’s empowerment
relevant for REDD+?
9. Gender is a key variable in REDD+
• Men & women may experience the effects of
climate change & REDD+ strategies differently
• Given women’s dependence on natural
resources, they may be adversely affected by
climate change policies on REDD+
• Gender-differentiated needs, uses &
knowledge have critical influence on REDD+
strategies
10. Gender differentiated roles in REDD+
• The integration both men & women’s roles,
responsibilities, knowledge & skills is vital to the
success of REDD+
• Understanding men and women’s varying roles
throughout the value chain:
• Enables a more accurate definition of the problem
and who is driving deforestation, where & how
• Helps identify potential solutions
11. Gender Differentiated
Impacts of a REDD+ Strategy
Driver of deforestation
or forest degradation
Potential REDD+
Strategy
Potential gender impacts
Illegal logging Improved forest law
enforcement
Men: Loss of employment
or income
Unsustainable collection
of fuel wood
Area declared as
‘protected area’
Women: Unable to access
fuel wood; loss of access
to medicinal plants, etc.
Encroachment of
subsistence agriculture
on forest
Land use planning to
identify separate
areas for agriculture &
forest conservation
Women: Food gardens are
located further away
12. Benefits of a Gender
Sensitive Approach
• Promotes human rights based
approach to development
• Meaningfully accounting for
men & women in REDD+
activities has been identified as
a main contributor to success
• Helps lead to effective, efficient
and sustainable processes and
outcomes
• Social and environmental
benefits from REDD+
13. Part III
Common entry points for integrating
gender equality and women’s
empowerment concepts
14. Key Entry Points
• Engaging women & men as key stakeholders in
decision-making
• Conducting a gender analysis
• Consulting technical gender expertise (i.e. gender
working groups/networks)
• Creating gender-sensitive monitoring & evaluation
processes
• Allocating adequate financial resources to undertake
gender sensitive activities
• Designing gender sensitive activities so that both
women & men are involved & benefit
15. Ensuring the Effective
Participation of Women & Men
Preparation
• Identify objective & desired outcome
• Carry out community mapping to identify
stakeholders
• Build an understanding of barriers to
participation
Planning
• Involve women's ministries / groups in processes
• Consider timing for consultations or events vis-a-
vis both women's a& men’s responsibilities
• Disseminate background information through
multiple outlets & ensure it is accessible by
women
Participation
• Design training & outreach material in a gender
sensitive manner
• Implement capacity building for women & men
• Carry out gender sensitive consultations or
events (design dependent on social constraints)
16. Promoting
Women’s Participation
• Consider women-only interviews
and men/women only group
consultations
• Create enabling conditions for
women to participate in
consultations.
• Mandating a quota (ex: 30%)
participation of women in REDD+
policy & development
• Support women to assume
leadership roles in REDD+
governance structures
17. Monitoring
Participation
Obs
e
rvations
(If pos
s
ible
, thena
me
s
of thepe
oplewho
pa
rticipa
te
)
# of pe
opleatte
nding
# of pe
oplewho e
xpre
s
s
the
ir opinion
# of pe
oplewho propos
e
s
ome
thing that isthe
n
agre
e
d upon
Na
meof thea
ctivity/me
e
ting:
Goa
l of thea
ctivity/me
e
ting:
Who ca
lle
d thea
ctivity/me
e
ting:
Figure
of mon
18. Conduct a
Gender Analysis
• Timing:
– Conduct a gender analysis during
design of activities
• Key features include:
– Analysis of stakeholders’ roles,
needs, priorities & opportunities
– Identification of socio-economic &
political context of both women &
men stakeholders affected and/or
involved
– Sex disaggregated baseline data for
monitoring
19. Consulting with
Gender Expertise
• Consult with gender specialists and/or those with
gender expertise, including at the local level (such as
gender networks or women’s groups)
• Such gender expertise can help provide technical
assistance in:
– Integrating gender considerations in REDD+ activities
– Developing measurable gender indicators
– Facilitating stock-taking of progress on gender
mainstreaming milestones
20. •Ministries / departments for women / gender
•Ministries / departments for forests / environment
•Local councils
•REDD+ cells / units / Task Forces
Government
Agencies
•UN-Women
•In-country Implementing Agencies (UN, Banks, Bilateral)
•One UN Lead Organization (if applicable)
UN Organizations
/ Donors
•Women’s groups
•Environmental groups
•In-country Implementing Agencies (NGOs)
NGOs
•Indigenous peoples organizations
•Youth organizations
•Local community associations
Community
Groups
•Farmers / agricultural organizations
•Forestry organizations
•Water user associations
•Workers and trade unions
Producer Groups
Examples of Relevant Partners
21. Gender Sensitive
Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) processes
• Gender-responsive M&E systems will help
identify the gendered dimensions REDD+
Activities
– And promote effective programme
implementation
• Gender-responsive M&E systems should:
– Disaggregate data by sex
– Create gender indicators
22. Gender Sensitive
Indicators (examples)
• Percent of women/ men
participating in a process
• Number of women holding
leadership roles in REDD+ decision-
making bodies and involved in
decision-making processes
• Number of hours women are
spending on unpaid work, such as
childcare, household, elderly care
and community work
• Number of hours women are
involved in subsistence activities
23. Allocate Adequate
Financial Resources for Gender Activities
• Gender activities require sufficient,
dedicated funds throughout all
phases of programming
• Gender-responsive budgeting:
– Involves re-prioritizing of
financial resources within
activities rather than just
increasing overall expenditures
– Helps address gender gaps in
programming
Gender
-Refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time -specific and changeable.
Gender Equality
-The equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.
Women’s Empowerment
-The concept of empowerment is related to gender equality but distinct from it. The core of empowerment lies in the ability of a woman to control her own destiny. This implies that to be empowered women must not only have equal capabilities (such as education and health) and equal access to resources and opportunities (such as land and employment), they must also have the agency to use those rights, capabilities, resources and opportunities to make strategic choices and decisions (such as are provided through leadership opportunities and participation in political institutions. And to exercise agency, women must live without the fear of coercion and violence.
The rationale for integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment principles into REDD+ is supported on various human rights and international/national obligations.
Various human rights treaties, that form the basis of the human rights based approach, also offer specific policy guidance for mainstreaming gender in REDD+ (UN-REDD Business Case on Gender Mainstreaming in REDD+) - wherein governments around the world have committed to mainstreaming gender. These include agreements such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), amongst others. (Guidance Note)
-CEDAW provides the framework for gender equality as a basic human right and for evaluating rights-based actions for gender equality based on outcomes.18 CEDAW recognizes women’s de jure rights to hold property (Article 16) and makes reference to rural women in particular (Article 14). These issues are of particular relevance to mainstreaming gender and REDD+. (UN-REDD Business Case on Gender Mainstreaming in REDD+)
-United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) “recognizes the rights of indigenous peoples on a wide range of issues and provides a universal framework for the international community and States.”19 This includes the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). UNDRIP Articles 21 and 22 hold provisions for specific attention to the particular rights and needs of indigenous women and note that the state shall ensure indigenous women enjoy protection against violence and discrimination. (UN-REDD Business Case on Gender Mainstreaming in REDD+)
For climate change commitments, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has successfully raised the profile of gender in climate change debates. – It has included various references to gender equality and the participation of women within a number of its decisions, including on REDD+
So in the process of undertaking REDD+, ensuring the gender sensitivity of key REDD+ components is critical, and will in turn contribute to effective and sustainable REDD+ processes and outcomes.
Within this context, gender equality and women’s empowerment is also important for REDD+ given the fact that:
Men and women may experience the effects of climate change and REDD+ policies differently. Women and men have different roles, responsibilities and priorities in communities, thus they could feel the effects of REDD+ strategies differently.
Given women’s dependence on natural resources, they may be adversely affected by climate change policies on REDD+ that may limit women’s access to forest resources (Gurung and Quesada 2009, Terry 2009).
-Example: If a government institutes a REDD+ strategy without taking gender concerns into consideration, women could experience different effects on their daily livelihood activities (i.e. collecting firewood and income generating activities around NTFPs)
It is important to ensure that gender dimensions are addressed in issues of climate change, property rights, forest management and distribution of carbon benefits because gender-differentiated needs, uses and knowledge have critical influence on REDD+ policy and programming on the ground.
The integration both men and women’s roles and responsibilities as well as unique knowledge, skills and experience of women is vital to successful REDD+ related initiatives
With respect to biodiversity, for example, women’s subsistence activities and knowledge of the forest can add value to community forestry activities, such as species monitoring, soil management and forest restoration functions, and thereby contribute positively to the sustainable management of forests or enhancement of forest carbon stocks. This is particularly relevant in the context of non-timber forest products and food security (UN-REDD 2011).
In some instances, women use non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to produce high-value goods such as shea butter for the cosmetic and natural health industries. These may provide models to inform social benefits of REDD+, specifically with regards to livelihoods and poverty reduction.
Understanding the varying roles played by men and women throughout the value chain (i.e. from planting the tree, collecting forest products, processing, and commercialization) not only enables a more accurate definition of the problem — who is driving deforestation, where and how — but also helps identify potential solutions and allows interventions to be tailored to deliver ‘the right REDD+ to the right target group’ (IIED 2011).
-
Here are some examples of some potential gender differentiated impacts around a REDD+ Strategy, which helps illustrate why it is important to help ensure both men and women are involved from the start…
As such taking a gender sensitive approach can lead to benefits, such as:
Integrating gender equality and gender mainstreaming activities into REDD+ also helps promote a human rights based approach to development - Such an approach seeks to ensure that all programmes and activities are designed to support vulnerable and marginalized community members. It is based on advocacy for their rights and on the principles of equality, inclusion and engagement. (UN-REDD Business Case on Gender Mainstreaming in REDD+)
Meaningfully capturing the views, experiences and priorities of both men and women in REDD+ activities at all stages, including in REDD+ readiness, has been identified as a main contributor to success - Capturing the specific knowledge, skills and experiences of women as primary forestry users, and the different roles, rights and responsibilities of men and women, as well as their particular access to and use patterns and knowledge of forests can help ensure the accuracy of information on drivers of deforestation and forest degradation as well as the efficient measures for the sustainable management of forests, forest conservation and restoration. It can also help ensure consistency with the human rights based approach to development.
Through these actions, taking a gender sensitive approach can also help lead to more efficient, effective and sustainable REDD+ processes and outcomes. It can contribute to increased efficiency and efficacy for REDD+ processes leading to reduced carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
In addition, other multiple benefits ‘beyond carbon’ from incorporating a gender sensitive approach can be derived, which can also be critical to the success of REDD+. For example, ensuring that REDD+ processes are gender sensitive can contribute to both ‘environmental benefits’ as well as ‘social benefits’ from REDD+. ‘Environmental benefits’ include ecosystem services, such as conservation of forest biodiversity, water regulation, soil conservation, timber, forest foods and other non-timber forest products (NTFP). It has been demonstrated that women play a crucial role in the sustainable management of ecosystem services, as local use and knowledge of forests and NTFP is often heavily differentiated by gender. ‘Social benefits’ include development goals such as poverty reduction, improved livelihoods, gender equality, and ensuring effective, inclusive and transparent governance.
There is a wealth of evidence to support the fact that having both men and women effectively participate in decision-making processes improves the long-term and sustainable management of forests. For example, the 2011 Human Development Report notes that greater involvement of women in decision-making has resulted in improved forest protection and better management of environmental resources in a number of countries.
Facilitating gender sensitive REDD+ processes requires meaningful presence, participation, and engagement of women and men in all phases of REDD+. Effective participation of women may be beneficial not only for specific stakeholder engagement processes, such as consultations or FPIC, but also across all aspects of REDD+ processes, including governance and Monitoring and Measurement, Reporting and Verification.
As with any stakeholder engagement process, supporting the effective participation of women requires an enabling environment, capacity building and the implementation of appropriate systems of engagement.
A bit more specifically, here are some ways to specifically target women and promote their participation…
The following table is a basic device for monitoring the participation of people in a meeting by gender.
Source: Table and tool pulled from CIFOR’s Field guide to Adaptive Collaborative Management and improving women’s participation (2014), available at: http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/ACMManual2014.pdf
-A gender analysis (as a separate analysis or as a larger socio-economic study) is ideally conducted during programme design to identify the national policies/strategies and local context in which stakeholders are operating in around various REDD+ activities.
-Such an assessment would also analyze the stakeholders’ roles, needs, priorities and opportunities within their given socio-economic and political context.
Depending on scope and depth, it would also help identify the gender-defined differences in access to and control over resources; power dynamics between women and men; and different social, economic, and political inequalities and opportunities faced by women and men in areas potentially and/or are affected by any particular strategy or intervention. It would also provide sex disaggregated baseline data for monitoring.
There are extensive networks and partnerships working on gender and REDD+, collaborating on research, advocacy and policy development and implementation. These networks can provide access to relevant gender and REDD+ resources as well as qualified gender and REDD+ experts, who can share lessons learned and best practices on ensuring gender sensitive REDD+ processes, including at the local.
Identifying and engaging champions/experts on gender equality and women’s rights could serve as a powerful aide to promote gender sensitive REDD+ processes. These champions could either be internal (with the national REDD+ coordination units) or external (women’s associations, gender equality advocates, social movements, etc.).
Engaging with a network or various partners can make the most of limited resources and promote learning and the exchange of experiences. It can also help integrate gender considerations in the national REDD+ framework, and ensure gender sensitive and efficient REDD+ processes
M&E systems inform decision-making, promote transparency and accountability.
Implementing gender-responsive M&E systems will help:
Determine gendered dimensions of resource access and use.
Detail project effects on women and men.
Lead to more effective REDD+ project implementation.
At a minimum all data should be disaggregated by sex. Gender specific indicators should also be created to monitor, evaluate, and track progress of policy/programme activities and impacts.
Thus, in the process of designing REDD+ indicators it is important to recognize ‘gender sensitive’ indicators – that recognize gender differences and accounts for them - as well as ‘gender blind indicators’- those that ignore important gender considerations and, as such, often hide inequalities and inequities.
Here are some examples of gender sensitive indicators….
Overall, effective gender sensitive indicators are based on sex-disaggregated data, focus on both outcome and output achievements, as well as meet the SMART(ER) criteria. SMART indicators are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound (Evaluate, Re-evaluate).
Additional actions such as reaching out to partners and networks, as well as mobilizing gender expertise to help in the development of gender sensitive indicators may improve the accuracy and relevance of the indicators. Women’s groups or other stakeholders with gender expertise may also contribute to collecting data and verifying results.
Meaningful gender equality and women’s empowerment activities requires sufficient, dedicated funds throughout all phases of programming.
Gender-responsive budgeting emphasizes the re-prioritizing of financial resources within activities rather than just increasing overall expenditures.
It is needed to help address gender gaps in policies and programming, and help ensure that gender-responsive activities have the proper financial support.
