REDD+
The world’s forests are at risk and WEDO wants to ensure that women’s perspectives are included in all responses to forest degradation. Currently, one significant area of focus for WEDO is REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), a global initiative that attempts to protect forests and extend climate change mitigation response measures into the areas of conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of carbon stocks. Like any forest conservation and management initiative, REDD+ projects will need to critically address and integrate gender equality issues at every stage of planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
REDD+ initiatives could have several implications for women at the local-community level, comprising significant risks and harmful outcomes as well as potential opportunities for the advancement of women’s rights. The exclusion of gender perspective in REDD+ projects may lead to an inequitable distribution of forest benefits and an increase in the vulnerability of women. However, REDD+ presents an opportunity to contribute to a real paradigm shift in conservation initiatives where there is true advancement in the recognition and value of women’s rights. Putting an end to the discrimination of women in forest-related areas, building the capacities of women in forest-related practices, ensuring the full and effective participation of all members of communities, and closing the gender gap are all milestone goals that WEDO strives to help achieve through our advocacy, capacity building and training on REDD+.
The Latest REDD+ News
Gender and the Art of Implementation
WEDO at COP17
Wednesday, November 3oth
On Wednesday, the Rio Pavilion at COP17 celebrated Gender Day! As part of this, WEDO’s Andrea Quesada presented at a side event on “Gender and the Art of Implementation”, to showcase some of the work WEDO has been doing on developing gender-sensitive road maps on REDD+ in Uganda, Cameroon and Ghana, in partnership with IUCN. Click here for WEDO and IUCN’s factsheet on Gender and REDD+.
Climate Conversations – “Property Can’t Own Property”
Women in Cameroon have developed a vision for a gender-sensitive approach for their country’s nascent Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme.
They have put together a roadmap to ensure that women are involved in the formulation of Cameroon’s national REDD+ strategy.
The premise is that women should be given equal opportunities to learn about REDD+ initiatives, and their capacity strengthened so they can influence, participate in and benefit from the programme. The roadmap will be presented at the U.N. Climate Convention in Durban in December.
Policymakers often wrongly assume that women are involved in decisions about the management of natural resources. In Cameroon, for example, women are often excluded from both formal and informal decision-making processes.
Gender and REDD+ Roadmaps on the Road to Durban
From Ghana to Uganda, WEDO is leading the way in creating a dialogue around women and forestry. Over the course of the last month, WEDO Project Coordinator Andrea Quesada has been traveling around West Africa, leading and facilitating workshops on gender and REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The workshops are part of a new initiative that WEDO and IUCN are jointly implementing which will deliver roadmaps to guide the design and implementation of gender-sensitive REDD+ strategies in Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda.
Women and Gender Constituency on Gender, Adaptation, and REDD+
Bonn, Germany, June 17th 2011– Today, WEDO’s Rachel Harris delivered an intervention on behalf of the Women and Gender Constituency at the UNFCCC.
“Despite clear evidence of the gender differentiated impacts of climate change, especially in developing countries, vulnerability assessments and adaptation studies do not reflect such differentiation and thus limit the efficiency of such analyses for appropriate gender sensitive adaptation measures. The review of the guidelines could provide several opportunities for countries to do so. Therefore, in vulnerability assessments and adaptation studies Parties should include gender analyses and gender-related information, as relevant.”
Click here to download the full intervention…
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Time for Progress for the Planet: UNFCCC negotiations resume in Bonn
Bonn, Germany- June 6th 2011
The second session of the 2011 UNFCCC negotiations commence today in Bonn, Germany. Two months ago in Bangkok, countries negotiated for 5 days to set an agenda for the way forward in this process [see article on BKK meeting]. Though seemingly little progress was made; the question of the most effective way to move forward in the negotiations was and remains a fundamental one.
Having decided to work in parallel on both operationalizing the decisions made in Cancun and following the roadmap of the Bali Action Plan, the world now looks to Bonn to see…
