Gallery at-a-glance
Women at CBD Make Bold Opening Statement
HYDERABAD, INDIA (October 9, 2012)– On Monday, Dr. Archana Godbole of AERF India delivered the Women’s Caucus statement at the opening plenary of the CBD COP11. The short and direct statement made clear the importance of women’s rights and gender equality to successfully addressing biological diversity. The Women’s Caucus further identified 5 key points including women’s traditional knowledge, capacity building, gender indicators and long term commitment to gender equality within biodiversity. Importantly, the statement highlighted the crucial need for predictable, transparent financing. Watch Archana and read the full statement below or download here.
Mr. President, distinguished delegates,
My Name is Archana Godbole of AERF India, speaking on behalf of the women’s caucus.
We welcome the new CBD Executive secretary and we look forward to working together to ensure that the CBD continues to champion gender equality and women’s rights in its policies and implementation efforts.
In the last twenty years gender equality and women’s rights have been and continue to be recognized as critical crosscutting issues at the CBD which has resulted in an extraordinary array of text. With this text Parties are in a unique position to pursue transformative implementation where women are recognized as crucial stakeholders and agents of change.
Words on paper are crucial, but healthy ecosystems and gender equality will only become a lived reality when full implementation is enforced. Women are watching and ready to support ambitious goals and implementation and as a caucus we would like to see the following five points integrated into the negotiations and outcomes:
- Recognize and incorporate women’s traditional knowledge,
- Integrate the gender dimension in social, environmental, and cultural indicators,
- Ensure capacity building for women in all program areas as a means to secure the full and effective participation of women,
- Strengthen discussions and implementation of the gender dimension in the second objective of the Convention on sustainable use,
- Commit to long term actions on gender equality and women’s rights by the CBD Secretariat and Parties
Women around the world- including farmers, fisher women, forest dwellers and managers, scientists, indigenous women, and change makers-recognize that none of these objectives will become a reality unless adequate financial resources are provided. The mechanism for these financial resources must be transparent, predictable and gender responsive.
Thank you very much.
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UNFCCC: Stalled political negotiations but the show does go on
BONN, GERMANY (May 26, 2012)- The first Intersessional of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began Monday, May 14, 2012 and ended Friday, May 25, 2012. During the 11 days of negotiations Parties tackled complex technical issues in the 36th session of the Subsidiary Bodies’ on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA36) and Implementation (SBI36) while also grappling with the many political issues within the 15th session of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), the 17th session of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the first session of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP). While there was progress in the Subsidiary Bodies and the KP on technical issues, political issues plagued advancement in the ADP and the LCA. Due to disagreements on the provisional agenda, after several informal consultations by the interim chair of the ADP, a revised agenda of the ADP was only adopted the morning of the last day of negotiations with the official chair of the ADP not being appointed until that afternoon. Similarly, in LCA while spin-off groups were agreed on some issues, mainly in mitigation and shared vision, some countries also wanted spin-off groups on other issues in the Bali Action Plan, including adaptation, finance, capacity building, response measures and technology.
WEDO led gender and climate change efforts through advocacy strategy co-coordinators, Rachel Harris and Sandra Freitas and worked with partners from the GGCA network including GGCA Coordinator, Nathalie Eddy. Keeping a close eye on key thematic areas including adaptation and finance in the Subsidiary Bodies, the advocacy co-coordinators also worked with members of the Women and Gender Constituency to write interventions, including an intervention delivered by Rachel Harris (see video below) at an informal session on consultations with the Presidency of the 18th Conference of the Parties, Qatar. Gender equality issues were taken into account in some of the conclusions of the subsidiary bodies as well as in the draft decisions that will be considered at COP18 in Qatar. In the late summer of this year there will be another UNFCCC Intersessional in Bangkok, Thailand to begin to work substantively on the newly adopted agenda of the ADP as well as to continue to work through some of the political issues of the LCA and KP, which have deadlines to meet by COP18. As these negotiations occur after the Rio+20 Conference, WEDO will also carry through important commitments made to gender and climate change/sustainable development to the UNFCCC. Through the political and technical details of the negotiations WEDO will continue to work with partners to push for a gender responsive global climate change agreement.
Click here to download a full compilation of references to women and gender coming out of Bonn 2012, as well as all interventions delivered by the Women and Gender Constituency.
Women demand rights and ambition at Rio+20 Negotiations
On May 5th, 2012, WEDO’s Eleanor Blomstrom delivered closing remarks on behalf of the Women’s Major Group at the Rio+20 negotiation. Watch Eleanor deliver the intervention below and read the statement in full.
Thank you chair. Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I am Eleanor Blomstrom, of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, speaking on behalf of the Women’s Major Group.
We entered these negotiations urging ambition. Unfortunately, we leave urging the same.
Rio+20 must take a rights based approach to poverty eradication and sustainable development, and can only succeed by integrating gender equality and women’s human rights in each of the three dimensions. We remain concerned about the bracketing and deleting of our rights. The Rio Principles must be reaffirmed alongside the full range of human rights, including sexual and reproductive rights. Further we would like to see more emphasis on sustainable (production and) consumption patterns and a stronger commitment to address issues of climate change that have caused havoc for many countries and communities.
Importantly, the outcome must go beyond general statements on gender equality – to strong commitments to action. Let me share three specific examples:
1. Women’s rights to land tenure, water, food, energy, education, movement and productive resources must be assured.
2. Leadership targets for women can be met via positive actions such as quotas. Paragraph CST 102 bis includes a 40% target, with the aim of parity.
3. The MDGs, limited as they are have yet to be reached, especially for gender equality, for women’s health and education. Therefore any discussions toward the SDGs should not gloss over the importance of a broad discussion on the post-2015 development agenda, which must maintain a laser focus on gender equality within all 3 dimensions of sustainable development.
Finally, the IFSD must fall within the United Nations and must ensure the meaningful participation of Major Groups and civil society stakeholders. We urge you to exhibit the political will necessary to move forward toward a bold outcome that will make a difference in women’s lives.
Thank you.
All Civil Society Participation, Gallery, Library, News, Rio +20, Sustainable Development, Women's Leadership
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International Women’s Week on Link TV
Beginning on March 1, Link TV will be airing an entire week of special programming devoted to showcasing diverse stories from women around the globe. You’ll see issues and perspectives uncovered and unseen on any other media outlets. Watch as Iranian women activists risk their safety to confront political candidates, as Western women trade their comfortable lives for experiences as Tribal Wives, and as Senegalese rapper Sister Fa joins audiences live on March 4 following the broadcast of her film, Sarabah. And definitely don’t miss the new hit series, Borgen, the only drama series currently on American airwaves that showcases a female head of state.
What to watch?
Women and the Changing Environment
The Earth’s population has reached 7 billion and is growing. More and more people means greater pressure on an already changing environment and it is women who often suffer the most. Earth Focus and Population Action International look at the links between population growth, climate change, and the lives of women in Peru, Nepal, and Ethiopia.
To find more information on these programs and ways to get involved in Link’s efforts to lift women globally, please visit www.linktv.org/women
After watching Link, learn more about WEDO’s work on gender and climate change by signing up for our Newsletter.
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