The 2016 IUCN
International World Conservation Congress kicked off a few days ago here
in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference theme is ‘Planet at the
Crossroads’, and a series of journeys, from ‘Business’ to ‘Biosecurity’
have been highlighted as key issue areas to frame dialogues and
conversations during the Congress.
As an estimated
8,000 advocates, scientists and conservationists convene to advance the
protection of our world’s natural resources, we also see that people
and cultures are inextricably linked to these efforts, as stewards of
their lands.
Our planet is at a crossroads, and people are also at a crossroads.
We must be willing to take urgent and bold action to challenge
unsustainable systems in our societies, and recognize how power and
privilege underpin environmental degradation and resource extraction.
People are
really at the heart, or should be at the heart, of our sharing and
learning here at the IUCN Congress. And further, an understanding that
people’s interactions with nature, in communities and households, is
very much framed by intersections such as race, class, culture and, in
particular, gender.
Why Gender & Conservation?
Gender is a
social construct. While not immutable nor universal, gender shapes
expectations, attributes, roles, capacities and rights of women and men
around the world- and in turn, experiences and interactions with the
natural environment. Women, compared to men, often have limited access
to resources, more restricted rights, limited mobility, and a muted
voice in shaping decisions and influencing policy. At the same time,
gender roles generally ascribed to women such as informal, reproductive
work often relate to caregiving for households and communities,
caretaking of seeds and soils, maintaining traditional agricultural
knowledge, and responsibility for natural resource management such as
firewood and water, and thus these roles create opportunity for
engagement as women bring diverse and critical solutions to
conservation.
IUCN as a Gender Champion
As one of the
leading environmental organizations in the world, IUCN has been at the
forefront of recognizing women’s rights and gender equality as a
critical element of conservation and sustainable development. Since its
founding in 1948, over 40 Congress resolutions have recognized women’s
role in resource management and at least 16 have emphasized the need for
gender analysis and planning in conservation work.
Following a
resolution in 1996 to develop a gender policy, the approved policy was
passed in 1998 and included the creation of a Global Senior Gender
Adviser Office (GGO), which almost 20 years later, now includes a global
staff of over 15 people, conducting technical work with IUCN members
around the world. This work has included support to mainstreaming gender
into international environmental policy frameworks, and support to
members at national level, creating action plans on gender in climate
change and biodiversity planning. In addition to the Global Gender
Office, IUCN has also established regional Gender Focal Points to
monitor implementation of the IUCN Gender Policy at all levels.
SOURCE:HUFFINGTON POST
SOURCE:HUFFINGTON POST
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