Inspiring examples

“As agents of change, bound together by our commitment to justice,
equality and peace, we can sustain our environment and our common future.”
Women as the Voice for the Environment Manifesto

Some international institutions have made important progress in linking gender in their environmental work.

The Network of Women Ministers of the Environment
The Network of Women Ministers of the Environment was established in 2002 and is presently co-chaired by Rejoice Mabudaphasi, South African Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and Lena Sommestad, Swedish Minister of Environment. It aims to promote women’s participation in environmental policies and to enhance a gender perspective in national and international environmental decision-making. The Network was created because of the urgency sensed by Ministers to reverse dangerous trends in the world’s development and to address a critical need for visionary and concrete policies toward sustainable development in their own countries and worldwide. The Network employs the belief that women bring to the table new ideas, approaches and strategies for protecting people and natural resources while practicing truly sustainable development. Among its activities, the network develops recommendations for practical solutions to environmental problems, builds network partnerships with civil society, non-governmental and intergovernmental agencies, exchanges best practices, and creates a critical mass of leadership to influence international and national policy. Together with specialized women’s environment organisations and UN agencies, the network has been instrumental in putting gender on global environmental agendas.

WAVE Assembly - Women as the Voice for the Environment
In 2004, after a consultative seminar, UNEP - in close cooperation with civil society groups and the Network of Women Ministers on Environment- organized the WAVE Assembly - Women as the Voice for the Environment, in Nairobi in October 2004. The conference, that brought together 150 women and men from 65 countries, resulted in a manifesto, recommendations on areas of concern and a series of project ideas to develop UNEP’s competence in specific areas. Building on the existing UNEP CG decisions, and inspired by the outcomes of the WAVE Assembly and related global developments, UNEP’s Governing Council at its 23rd session in 2005, adopted decision 23/11 on Gender Equality in the Field of Environment. This decision called upon Governments and UNEP itself to mainstream gender in their environmental policies and programmes, to assess the effects on women of environmental policies, and to integrate further gender equality and environmental considerations into their work.

Around the World

Latin America and the Caribbean
In several regions positive examples of governmental employment in sustainable development takes place. Participatory planning for environmental conservation is developing in Latin America and the Caribbean, and this movement has alluded the need for women’s participation. Women in the CARICOM countries are highly involved in civil society organizations that work on environment and the ministries or departments of gender affairs have played a part in supporting these initiatives.

European Community
The Treaty establishing the European Community states that: “equality between men and women should be promoted in all activities”.  While gender equality in relation to the Union’s environmental work is not explicitly mentioned, it is implied in the text. Within the Environment for Europe process, victory achieved by women’s lobbying was the inclusion of a reference to ‘gender mainstreaming’ in the final text of the declaration signed by environment ministers and heads of delegations from 51 countries.
In Germany the Federal Government in 1999 adopted gender mainstreaming as an underlying principle for all its activities. As a pilot project the Federal Environment Ministry decided to develop a gender impact assessment for legislative measures in the field of radiation protection.

Asia-Pacific
An increasing number of women in the Asia-Pacific region are involved in environmental decision-making. NGOs and to a lesser extent governmental environmental agencies have women in middle-level management positions. According to a study, six countries in the region have conducted environment research of which three included discussions about the impact of environmental developments on women. The Asian Development Bank and UNIFEM have supported various gender audits of environmental programs in the region. The Bangladesh Government’s interest in women’s participation in environment was reflected in the Fifth Five Year Plan 1997-2002. In Pakistan the National Plan of Action for implementing Beijing commitments includes a chapter on women and the environment. In South Korea, the Ministry of Gender Equality recommends an at least 30 percent quota of women on various kinds of advisory committees.

Africa
In Africa’s SADC region, in those countries that have engendered their environmental policies and plans, there has been a marked improvement in the representation of women in environmental decision-making. The Economic Commission for Africa reported in 2004 an increase of 50 percent representation of women in the sector. In West Africa National Environmental Programs were developed in most countries and involved women in the decision-making process. 

NGOs and International Organisations

After a period of ad hoc initiatives in this area, the World Conservation Congress in Aman in 2000 approved a resolution that called on the Director General of IUCN to ensure that “gender equity is mainstreamed in all of the Secretariat’s actions, projects and initiatives”. A series of concrete actions followed to accelerate the pace of change. IUCN appointed a high-level gender advisor, assigned a budget for the topic, created networks of gender focal points in the region, defined responsibilities in relation to the gender policy for all personnel, elaborated criteria for the approval of new proposals,  started the development of specific and practical methodologies for mainstreaming gender into conservation initiatives, issued a series of publications and intensively trained its staff.

Some environmental NGOs, such as Friends of the Earth International and Both Ends, also have adopted gender policies and action plans, recognizing the importance of a gender approach to their work. Of the multilateral environmental agreements, particularly the Secretariat and COPs of UNCCD have made attempts to integrate a gender perspective in the combat of desertification, as the recent Conference on Women and Desertification in Beijing (May/June 2006) illustrated. Specialized women’s environment and development organisations, such as the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO), Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), ENERGIA, LIFE, the Gender and Water Alliance, the network of professional women WOCAN (Women Organising for Change in Agriculture and Natural resource Management) and many national and local groups all play important roles in bringing a gender perspective to the environmental table.