Damaris Mungai

My name is Damaris Mungai. I work at the UN Environment -Africa Office. I have worked on gender issues for 4 years and it has been encouraging to see the turn of events as regards to programming and having a gender lens in the organization. As many people joke, ' Many know about gender but few want to do gender.' As the gender focal point, i have inspired people to look at gender as just not a programming requirement but an area of impact. I love to work on gender issues in the Africa Office because in this region, women issues have been identified even at the African Union level as areas of interest. 2010-2020 was launched as the women's decade, with the aim of advancing gender equality through the acceleration of the implementation of global and regional decisions and commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. 2017 was also designated as the year of the youth, which gives a clear focus on young women and girls. This give me impetus to wake up everyday and think creatively and innovatively on the gender and environment nexus and how this synergy, if effectively harnessed can empower men, women, boys and girls in the African continent.