International Union for Conservation of Nature - Office of the Senior Gender AdviserThe Global Gender and Climate Alliance International law instruments.

International Union for Conservation of Nature - Office of the Senior Gender AdviserThe Global Gender and Climate Alliance

International law instruments as a framework for mainstreaming gender

in climate change

Rose Mwebaza(PhD)


Human rights as a starting point


There are innumerable global mandates calling for integrating a gender perspective that apply to climate change. These include:

• instruments that deal with human rights, • gender equality, • sustainable development and environment• and disaster risk reduction

Legal Framework


Equality and protection against discrimination are enshrined

in major human rights instruments:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which accords protection to the rights of women for equality, prohibits discrimination and accords equality before the law

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits discrimination, promotes equality of women’s and men’s rights and equality before the law

• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which prohibits discrimination, and calls for equality of women and men regarding the rights recognized by the Covenant



Their relevance for climate change efforts is:

• Further define the obligations of states to ensure that any laws and policies adopted in this area fully respect the rights of women to equal treatment before the law

• Reinforce any obligations on states to secure fair and equitable distribution of benefits (funds, technology, information)

• Ensure women’s participation in decision making regarding adaptation and mitigation initiatives, policies and mechanisms



THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

• The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in its Resolution 7/23 on Human Rights and Climate Change, expressed concern over the fact that climate change poses far reaching threats to people and communities around the world, and has implications for the full enjoyment of human rights.

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THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGTHS

• The Council Resolution is significant because it represents the first global recognition within the UN framework of the interconnectedness between the worlds of climate change and human rights.

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• The resolution reaffirms that human rights obligations and commitments have the potential to inform and strengthen international and national policy-making in the area of climate change, by promoting coherence, legitimacy and sustainable outcomes.



• The nexus between climate change and human rights was elaborated by Mary Robinson, Former United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights who noted that:

“International Human rights law expands the obligations which states have assumed under the Framework Convention on Climate Change to reduce green house gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change” .



• States have a positive obligation under international law to protect individuals includig women against threats posed to human rights by climate change, regardless of the cause.


MARY ROBINSON


• CEDAW is the principal instrument for the protection of women’s rights, adopted in 1979 by GA-UN

• The Optional Protocol to CEDAW, came into effect on the December 2000. The Optional Protocol establishes procedures where women may file complaints requesting investigation of violations of rights

CEDAW


• CEDAW defines discrimination against women as: “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”

• CEDAW also recognizes that women should have equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer property

CEDAW


• In a provision of much relevance to UNFCCC, State Parties are obliged to take “all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development” and, “participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at all levels”, and “in all community activities”

CEDAW


• Also recognizes that women should have equal rights to “obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal, including… the benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their technical proficiency”

CEDAW


• State Parties “shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations”

CEDAW


The cumulative effect of these provisions is to create obligations on countries to ensure that:

• Women are granted equal opportunities and the conditions necessary to enable their participation in decision making and negotiation of climate change agreements

• Equitable participation in access to financial mechanisms and technologies

CEDAW


Of the 195 Parties and Observer States to the UNFCCC, only six have not signed CEDAW

Such data demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of Parties to the UNFCCC have already made commitments to gender equality and their international law by being part of CEDAW

CEDAW final thought


• March 2008 resolution on Human Rights and Climate Change

“climate change poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and communities around the world and has implications for the full realization of human rights”

• The Office of the High Commissioner execute an analytical

study of the relationship between climate change and human rights

UN Human Rights Council


• The right to development should be fulfilled so as to meet equitably the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations

• The outcome documents urge treaty monitoring bodies to include

the status of women and the human rights of women in their deliberations and findings, making use of gender-specific data

• It also urges governments and regional and international

organizations to facilitate the access of women to decision making processes

World Conference on Human Rights


DECRIPS specifically prohibits discrimination against women (Article 22.2), providing that all the rights and freedoms recognized in the declaration be guaranteed equally to male and female indigenous people (Article 44)

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples


Gender equality


• ECOSOC Resolution 2005/31

• ECOSOC Resolution 2008/34

• 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (2008)

• Beijing Platform for Action (4th World Conference on Women 1995)

Gender Equality


“All entities of the United Nations system, including United Nations agencies, funds and programs, to intensify efforts to address the challenges involving the integration of gender perspectives into policies and programs, including: • Developing action plans with clear guidelines on the practical

implementation of gender mainstreaming;

• Fully incorporating a gender perspective into program budgets;

• Ensuring continuous awareness raising and training on gender issues for all staff;

• Requiring gender analysis for both policy formulation and programmatic work;

ECOSOC 2005/31


• Ensuring commitment by senior management to gender mainstreaming;

• Strengthening accountability systems for gender mainstreaming;

• Incorporating a gender perspective into operational mechanisms, such as those relating to the implementation of MDGs;

• Continuing to support governments and to work with civil society in their efforts to implement the Beijing Platform for Action;

• Development and institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation tools and gender impact analysis methodologies, promoting the collection, compilation and analysis of sex-disaggregated data;

• Promoting mainstreaming of gender perspectives into key macroeconomic and social development policies and national development programs.”

ECOSOC 2005/31and ECOSOC Resolution 2008/34


• Identified gender perspectives on climate change as its key emerging issue

• Resolution 21(jj) governments are urged to: “Integrate a gender perspective in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting of national environmental policies, strengthen mechanisms and provide adequate resources to ensure women’s full and equal participation in decision-making at all levels on environmental issues, in particular on strategies related to climate change and the lives of women and girls”

52nd Session Commission on the Status of Women


Strategic objective K.1.

Involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels


Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development


Strengthen or establish mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels to assess the impact of development and environmental policies on women

Beijing Platform of Action


Disaster Risk Reduction



• Hyogo Framework for Action (World Conference on

Disaster Reduction 2005)

• Expert Group Meeting on “Environmental Management and the Mitigation of Natural Disasters: A Gender Perspective” (ISDR/DAW, Ankara, 2001)

Risk Reduction


Sustainable development/environment


• Agenda 21 (UN Conference on Environment and Development 1992)

• Johannesburg Plan of Action (2002)

• Millennium Declaration (2000)

• Convention on Biodiversity (1992)

• Convention to Combat Desertification (1994)

Sustainable Development/Environment


• Chapter 24, entitled “Global Action for Women towards Sustainable Development”, calls upon governments to make necessary constitutional, legal, administrative, cultural, social, and economic changes in order to eliminate all obstacles to women’s full involvement in sustainable development and in public life

• In the rest of the text there are specific mention to women in 159 cases

Agenda 21


The Declaration identifies certain fundamental values to be essential to international relations in the twenty-first century. To secure their realisation signatories commit to: • Assure equal rights and opportunities for women and men (Article

6)• Promote equality between sexes and the empowerment of

women as effective means to combat poverty, hunger and diseases, and promote a truly sustainable development

• Ensure that all may take advantage of the benefits of new technologies, particularly information and communication technologies

Millennium Declaration


The Rio Conventions and the harmonization process


• Preamble Paragraph 13• SBSTTA recommendation II/7, on agricultural biological diversity

and the role of women in managing practices and knowledge • COP decision III/11, para.17, on promotion of women’s knowledge

and practices in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the agricultural sector

• The annex to COP decision III/14 on Article 8(j): gender balance in workshop organization

• Annex I to SBSTTA recommendation IV/7, on potential impacts of tourism on cultural values, including gender

• SBSTTA recommendation V/14, para. 2 (i) and annex and annex III to COP decision VIII/10, on gender balance in the composition of ad hoc technical expert groups, subsidiary body and roster of experts

Convention on Biological Diversity


• COP decision V/16 –element 1 of the programme of work of Article 8(j) on promotion of gender-specific ways in which to document and preserve women’s knowledge of biological diversity

• COP decision V/20, on gender balance in the roster of experts;• COP decision V/25, on Socio-economic and cultural impacts of

tourism: the fact that tourism activities may affect gender relationships• Annexes I and II to COP decision VI/10, annex to COP

decisionVII/1: Gender as a social factor that may affect traditional knowledge

• Decision V/16: Article 8(j) and related provisions states: “Recognizing the vital role that women play in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and emphasizing that greater attention should be given to strengthening this role and the participation of women of indigenous and local communities in the programme of work”



• Under the “General Principles” the programme of work on the implementation 8(j) CBD calls for: “Full and effective participation of women of indigenous and local communities in all activities of the programme of work”

• III WGRI recommended for COP 9, “in developing, implementing and revising their national biodiversity strategies and action plans to, inter alia, promote the mainstreaming of gender considerations”

• COP 9: Welcomes the development by the Executive Secretary of the “Gender Plan of Action under the Convention on Biological Diversity”, as contained in document UNEP/CBD/COP/9/INF/12, and invites Parties to support the Secretariat’s implementation of the plan



• Of the so-called Rio Conventions UNCCD, most clearly recognizes the role of women in rural livelihoods and encourages the full participation of women and men in the implementation of the convention

• The UNCCD stresses the important role played by women in regions affected by desertification and/or drought, and instructs national action programmes to provide for effective participation of women and men, particularly resource users, including farmers and pastoralists and their organizations.

Convention to Combat Desertification


UN Framework Convention on Climate Change


• Failed to recognize the gender aspects of climate change and omits the issues of gender equality and women’s participation entirely

• Women’s caucuses since COP-11 in 2005 have strongly lobbied for a gender approach in all these critical areas

• Gender equality is a guiding principle in NAPA design and it was advised to include gender expertise in NAPA teams

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change


It is important to highlight the fact that since the UNFCCC was drawn up within the framework of the United Nations, decisions of the General Assembly and conventions or treaties dealing with gender issues constitute mandates

Final remark

International Union for Conservation of Nature - Office of the Senior Gender AdviserThe Global Gender and Climate Alliance International law instruments.

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