GGCA

The GGCA is a unique network of 13 UN agencies and more than 25 civil society organizations working together to ensure that climate change decision-making, policies and initiatives, at all levels, are gender responsive.

In early 2005, concerned about the persistent exclusion of women’s rights and gender issues in climate debates, WEDO and IUCN came up with an idea to build an NGO-UN alliance as a united front on ‘gender and climate change’. In partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and with the support of the Governments of Finland and Denmark, the GGCA was officially launched in 2007, at UNFCCC COP-13 in Bali. Since its founding, WEDO has played a leadership role in facilitating global and national policy advocacy, capacity building and knowledge generation, in partnership and collaboration with various members under the GGCA umbrella.

On behalf of the GGCA, WEDO administers two key projects: the Advocacy Team and the Women Delegates Fund (WDF). Tracking the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process closely, the Advocacy Team is a comprised of civil society leaders from a range of backgrounds, expertise and regions. They work closely with government negotiators as technical advisors to integrate effective gender text into the climate change policies. The team continues to celebrate great success: the Cancun Agreements (from COP-16, December 2010) retained eight strong references to women and gender, and new gender language was also included in areas critical for national implementation. Key partners in advocacy work include ENERGIA – the International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, Abantu for Development in Ghana, Oxfam International, CARE, ActionAid, UNIFEM (now part of UNWOMEN) and many more.

WEDO is also proud to administer the WDF, with support from the Government of Finland and in partnership with UNDP, which provides travel and capacity building support to women delegates from the global South. The WDF supports women to join their national negotiating teams at major UNFCCC meetings and has contributed to an overall rise in women’s participation in the UNFCCC process over 2009 and 2010. Ending in December 2011, the WDF has been an important project to provide networking opportunities, negotiation skills training, substantive workshops and much more beyond just travel support. WEDO remains grateful to Finland for recognizing the importance of women’s leadership in decision-making as positive change agents!

WEDO works with all members of the alliance to lobby governments and build the GGCA’s membership of organizations working toward gender-sensitive international climate change agreements and plans. The GGCA is in a transition period at the close of 2010 and will define a new strategic plan in early 2011. For more information, visit the GGCA website!

The Latest GGCA News