GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

NBSAP; of the 141 examined, 77 mentioned gender or aspects related to women.
Based on this analysis by Quesada-Aguilar and Mata (2008), some examples of
how countries have addressed gender issues are presented in Box 2 above.
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In 2007, as mentioned above, the CBD Executive Secretary launched
a process for the promotion of gender equality within the Convention. As part
of the celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8, 2007), the Executive
Secretary designated a Gender Focal Point in the CBD Secretariat.
With support and technical direction from IUCN, at the end of 2007
and early 2008 the CBD Secretariat carried out an internal process aimed at
developing the Convention’s first gender strategy. The plan was approved by
the CBD Bureau in February 2008 and approved by the COP 9 in June of that
same year: “the COP welcomes the development of a Gender Plan of Action
under the CBD as presented in the document UNEP/CBD/COP/9/L.4 and invites
parties to support the Secretariat in its implementation.” In this way, the CBD
established a historic milestone by becoming the first multilateral environmental
agreement (MEA) with a strategy to promote gender equality among women
and men.
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Desertification
(INCD) which, at the start of the 1990s, prepared the UNCCD, established that to
combat desertification effectively both women and men should participate fully
in the preparation and implementation of dryland development activities. The
INCD also recognized that participation does not materialize just by a decision
but requires special support activities that will promote women’s opportunities
for participating including awareness raising, training and capacity building,
and education.
This convention is one of the few international instruments that
established a link between the environmental situation, gender equality and
social participation. This was largely because the UNCCD was always tied more
with local development and the eradication of poverty (in comparison to other
MEAs), given the fact that countries from the South led its elaboration.
In the initial years of its execution, the commitment to push for equality
among men and women was an important element in many of the related
activities carried out by the UNCCD in the local, national, regional and global
sphere. In the convention’s implementation, governments as well as NGOs