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Opening Ceremony
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Opening the session on Wednesday morning, UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja said that gender equality is a necessity if we aspire to land degradation neutrality.
A panelist discussed the incorporation of gender issues in the constitution and university curricula of Namibia. Other speakers described constraints on women in drylands and called for repealing discriminatory law and practices.
Keynote speaker Margaret Mensah Williams, Deputy Chairperson, National Council of Namibia, called for land ownership and related rights for women, and explored gender aspects of Namibia’s policy frameworks, arguing that any serious policy must ensure participation in decision making, benefits from natural resources, and opportunities for knowledge-sharing for women.
Panelists invited the participants to work towards a practical, forward-looking initiative focusing on women’s empowerment. |
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Advances in Women’s Empowerment Over Two Decades
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On Wednesday morning, this panel addressed progress in institutionalizing gender at local, national, regional and global levels. Ministers and representatives discussed gender mainstreaming at the national level in South Africa, Namibia and Argentina, as well as at the international level within the UNCCD.
Speakers noted the higher vulnerability of women to desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) due to existing gender inequality. At the national level, they highlighted specific initiatives that mainstream gender, inter alia, a Green Fund Project in South Africa, constitutional rights to land and access to credit initiatives in Namibia, and inclusion of gender in Argentina’s National Action Programmes (NAP) to address desertification under the UNCCD. They called for ensuring gender mainstreaming in all sectors and gender representation in institutions. |
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L-R: Moderator Immaculate Mogotsi, UNAM; Niita Iipinge, Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, Namibia; Sergio Zelaya, UNCCD Secretariat; María Teresa Kralikas, Minister, General Directorate of Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Argentina; and Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister, Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa
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Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Drylands Women
Empowerment that Improves Livelihoods at Household and Community Levels:
Community Level Perspective
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On Wednesday afternoon, this panel presented community-level perspectives with speakers describing the impacts of conservancies in Namibia, a women’s cooperative in Namibia, and integration of women into community land projects in Mexico.
Deborah Fraser, UNCCD Drylands Ambassador, South Africa, highlighted the vision of her women’s empowerment foundation, saying it aims, in part, to increase representation of women in the sustainable use of land resources.
On benefits of conservancies, one panelist emphasized employment of women as community resource monitors and representation of women in conservancy management committees.
On the benefits of the cooperative, the speaker noted income generation and empowerment stemming from self-governance. By focusing on household-level interventions that integrate women, one speaker said projects are less likely to be abandoned if family members migrate elsewhere for work. |
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Empowerment that Improves Livelihoods at Household and Community Levels:
Development Partners’ Perspective
Marching Towards Gender Equality and Equity
Conclusion and Closing
Reception
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Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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Seventh Rio Conventions Pavilion (RCP)
