Gender and Biodiversity

The main focus of the EMG National Dialogue on Gender and Biodiversity was the impending challenges to the achievement of a gender inclusive and biodiverse societal set up and actions and plans that should be implemented to offset this imbalance.
The main challenges to effectively addressing the gender gaps and women empowerment are;
1.The Covid-19 Pandemic that has deepened existing inequalities.
2.social disadvantage women are placed at by the relationship between gender equity and natural resource allocation.
3.Lack of data on the generation, availability, statistic and indicators of gender.
4.Lack of capacity by many governments to effectively reduce gender imbalance and promote inclusivity.
5.Societal negligence on the importance of an integrated and multi-diverse community.

The three key priorities and focus to addressing this disparity are;
a)Equal access ,ownership and control in relation to biodiversity and ecosystem services. These include rights to land ownership by women, land tenures and women economic empowerment.
b)Ensuring women benefit equally from efforts to conserve and sustainably manage biodiversity such as employment opportunities to women, government tenders and contracts reserved for women and leadership opportunities for women.
c)Biodiversity policy, planning and programming decisions should address equally the perspective and interest of women. Decision making process should involve women and the decisions should reflect the interest of women and girls as well as men and boys.

Successful execution of these priority policies will fuel a transformative action in gender and biodiversity.