FAO Drought Programme at the COP 16 - Special event on gender responsive drought management planning and implementation

Background

Even though the processes of attaining gender equality and social inclusion have gained global prominence in public discourse for decades, not much discussion has taken place on how the processes are linked to drought management planning and implementation. It is widely recognized that women and men are affected by drought differently, therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt gender-responsive approaches in drought preparedness policy making and programming to enable the attainment of gender equality and social inclusion. Young people have emerged not only as proactive leaders during disasters, but also as innovators, enablers of knowledge building and preparedness. In addition, people with disabilities are best positioned to develop strategies for removing barriers based on their lived experience, situating themselves as change agents rather than as part of a voiceless population.

 

Some national drought plans/strategies/policies have made great efforts in addressing the challenges that women face and have put up measures to ensure that they are drought resilient.  However, specific challenges for other social groups such as the elderly, persons with disabilities, children and youths are minimally addressed. Furthermore, most drought policy documents look at the narrow view of men and women as homogeneous groups without considering their various identities (intersectionality). Therefore, the overall objective of the event is to understand and showcase lessons learned in integrating gender equality and social inclusion in drought management planning and implementation of interventions.

 

The event will contribute to the COP16 agenda through taking a people centred approach by discussing the critical need of prioritising the rights and needs of women and men, youth, people with disabilities and other social groups in the drought management planning. In addition, the event will go beyond planning and will showcase practical lessons and success stories of integrating gender and social inclusion in drought management practices but also the realities of the failure to do so. Now is the time to ensure that no one is left behind in key decision-making processes and take action to have gender-responsive drought plans.

 

The side event will have panels and will take a participatory approach by allowing the audience to engage with the speakers. It will involve a variety of stakeholders, including high-level government officials from different countries, representatives from UN Agencies, UNCCD focal points and development agencies.

The Programme

High-level opening

Technical segment

• Setting the scene
• Lighting speech
• Panel Discussion:
  •    Stakeholders, Gender and social inclusion in drought management
  •    Effects of drought on men and women
  •    Migration, drought and gender
  •    Women’s involvement in drought projects
  •    Youth involvement in drought management
  •    UNCCD support for gender and social inclusion
  •    Social groups and drought resilience
• Q&A
• Concluding Remarks