WEDO is a steering committee member of the Corporate Accountability Working Group of the International Network on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net), a collaborative initiative of groups and individuals from around the world working to secure economic and social justice through human rights.
WEDO is a founding member of the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG), along with the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) , Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), GCAP Feminist Taskforce, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and WIDE-Globalizing for Gender Equality.
WEDO partnered with the World Conservation Union ( IUCN) and the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA) to convene a Training of Trainers (ToT) on gender and climate change immediately preceding the December 2008 UN Climate Change meeting in Poznan, Poland. The ToT was followed by a delegates training, which included representatives from some 40 countries. In 2009 WEDO will work with IUCN and GGCA on a series of trainings in five regions. Stay tuned!
WEDO has big plans for the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. This involves presenting lessons learned and best practices from our national advocacy initiatives, including our campaign From Katrina to Copenhagen: Women Demand U.S. Action on Climate Change.
Out of Oxfam Great Britain came the amazing film, Sisters on the Planet, which tells Women’s stories of climate change from around the world; now there’s a U.S. version, too, as well as one from Australia! WEDO uses this film to raise awareness.
WEDO was chosen to be featured as a “Take Action” in the Women, Power and Politics online exhibition at the International Museum of Women. Visit the online community that inspires individuals and organizations from more than 200 countries to start conversations and take action around the issues that affect women and our world.
Recent WEDO Worldwide News
Members of U.S. Congress Speak Out on Women and Climate Change!
Monday, November 7th, 2011
On Thursday November 3rd 2011, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a Congressional resolution to bring attention to the greater economic, agricultural, and health-related hardships faced by women arising from climate change. H.Con.Res. 84 recognizes the disparate impact of climate change on women and the efforts of women globally to address this issue. The Resolution was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
From the official posting on her website, Representative Lee remarks: “The direct and indirect effects of climate change continue to have a disproportionate impact on marginalized women, including refugee and displaced persons, sexual minorities, religious and ethnic minorities, adolescent girls, women and girls with disabilities and those who are HIV positive,” said Congresswoman Lee. “While women are bearing the brunt of climate change’s effects, they are often underrepresented in the development of climate change adaptation policy. This is unacceptable.”
Climate Conversations – “Property Can’t Own Property”
Friday, October 28th, 2011
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
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
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.
Deserting Gender Equality in the UNCCD is Not an Option
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
From its inception the UNCCD has recognized the importance of women’s particular needs and roles in combating desertification, and in involving both women and men in all levels of decision-making. Now, with rapid loss of biodiversity, significant decreases in freshwater resources and increases in food insecurity, it is ever more critical to put the words of the Convention into action.
At UNCCD COP-10 Parties have the opportunity to adopt a framework that can simultaneously increase the effectiveness of combating desertification and achieve goals towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. This is a first step in allowing the UNCCD Secretariat to fully support Parties in gender mainstreaming the 10-year strategy. WEDO, along with several other civil society organizations and women and men around the world urge Parties at UNCCD COP-10 to not desert women or men and adopt the policy framework on gender that can greatly assist Parties in achieving needed goals toward gender equality and sustainable development.
Panama: Our Bridge to Durban
Friday, October 14th, 2011
From October 1-7, 2011 the UNFCCC held an Intersessional in Panama City, Panama. The City known for the famous Panama Canal, which connects ships carrying goods from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere and vice versa, also served as a crucial connection between the Bonn, Germany Intersessional [see article on UNFCCC Bonn conference] and COP-17 in Durban, South Africa.
Parties’ main goal of the Intersessional was to come to areas of convergence so they could develop draft text in Panama City that can be negotiated for decisions in Durban. The Intersessional held informal negotiations on agenda items under the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA). A small advocacy team went to Panama City focusing on the negotiations under the AWG-LCA [see UNFCCC website for more information] and provided technical advice to delegates including those supported by the Women Delegates Fund.
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