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IUCN Rosa develops gender and equity strategy
IUCN - The World Conservation Union - Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA)
May 04, 2003

by Caroline Gwature

Gender equality and equity are matters of fundamental human rights and social justice, and that equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities for men and women are preconditions for sustainable development and sustainable use of natural resources. Because part of IUCN's mission is to "ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable," creating an enabling working environment that attracts and helps to retain gender-sensitive staff is part of ROSA's core business. IUCN-ROSA, through the Regional Policy Programme, held a one-day workshop for its staff aimed at developing an Implementation Strategy for gender mainstreaming within IUCN ROSA.

"IUCN understands that gender refers to the attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the socio-cultural relationships between women and men. These attributes are socially constructed and are learned through socialisation processes. In most societies, there are differences and inequalities between women and men in activities undertaken, access to and control over resources as well as decision-making opportunities," says Acting Regional Director Tabeth Matiza-Chiuta.

"In the use, management and conservation of natural resources women and men have different roles and responsibilities, which vary greatly from region to region. This necessitates understanding of gender relationships and the environment, which in turn, will help in analysing patterns of use, knowledge and skills regarding conservation and sustainable use of natural resources."

Participants at the workshop, who included staff from country offices, came up with a gender strategy for ROSA, which contributes to the global gender policy and strategy. These will be further discussed and sent to management and the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) for endorsement.

Mainstreaming gender within IUCN ROSA has been a process, which started with the Gender Awareness Raising Workshop, which was followed by the Gender Analysis Workshop to equip project staff with skills to carry out gender analysis of their projects. These two workshops resulted in the development of Organisational Level and Project Level work plans. The workshop marked an important point in the gender mainstreaming process within ROSA as this strategy now acts as a guide for turning work plans into actions.

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