Mainstreaming gender – successes and lessons learned from 2020-2022
The EAF-Nansen Programme invited all 32 partner countries, national stakeholders, and gender experts to a ‘global gender workshop’ to provide an update on the status of ongoing gender activities, share lessons learned and highlight successes from the past years. In total, over 90 participants joined the workshop that was hosted online.
“Since the launch of the Programme Gender Strategy in 2020, great progress has been made in advancing knowledge and improving visibility on gender issues,” said Mr Yaw Ansah, the EAF-Nansen Programme Socio-economist. He added that the workshop provided a great opportunity to share information, but also to brainstorm on what to focus on in 2023 and in the new phase of the Programme that is starting in 2024.
Key activities and successes
Among the key activities and successes highlighted at the workshop, is a training course on gender issues in fisheries that was developed by the Programme to raise awareness on the topic, and to provide information on what the Programme is doing to make gender “everyone’s business”.
“Gender equality is an integral part of the EAF-Nansen Programme, in line with our aim to strengthen human and institutional capacities in all partner countries” said Ms Merete Tandstad, the EAF-Nansen Programme Coordinator who also emphasized the need to promote effective participation of women in fisheries science and governance.
The gender training course is included in Programme meetings and events to the extent possible, and it is promoted whenever an opportunity is given. To date, all national teams in countries where Programme field projects are taking place, have taken this course.
Another success is the establishment of ‘gender desks’ in line with the Programme’s Gender Strategy, with the aim to integrate gender activities in the Programme field projects. Discussions with the national fisheries officers revealed a need to build institutional capacity on integrate gender in all aspects of their work, instead of supporting specific activities only. This led to the idea of the ‘gender desk’, which is a recognized team of officers from the national fisheries institutions dedicated to the development of a gender action plans.
The coordinators of the fisheries ‘gender desks’ in the United Republic of Tanzania and The Gambia presented their experiences with the process, including the challenges encountered and successes achieved so far. Tanzania was the first national partner to develop a ‘gender desk’ within its Department of Fisheries Development at the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, in April 2021.
“Fisheries play a major role in poverty reduction in Tanzania but there is a lack of data on women in the fisheries sector, and we need to increase awareness of gender issues in fishing communities and decision makers to make a change,” said Ms Upendo Hamidu who is the coordinator of the fisheries gender desk in Tanzania. According to her, this led to their request for support from the EAF-Nansen Programme to establish a ‘gender desk’ at the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, where the Programme has a project dedicated to ensuring that small and medium sized pelagic fisheries are managed more efficiently.
The lessons learned from Tanzania have inspired and guided the process to build the capacity of fisheries ‘gender desks’ in other partner countries of the EAF-Nansen Programme, in close collaboration with the FAO Gender Team, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, and the FAO Regional Office for Africa. Technical support has also been contributed from UN-Women towards this effort.
The Department of Fisheries at the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources in The Gambia is also in the process of establishing a ‘gender desk’ with support from the Programme.
“The Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources of the Gambia is well-aware of the importance of integrating the gender aspect within the national fisheries sector and is therefore grateful for the EAF-Nansen Programme’s support in the establishment of the fisheries ‘gender desk’ at the Ministry”, said Mr Momodou Jallow who is the coordinator of ‘gender desk’ in The Gambia. He further added that national fisheries officers are now well trained and are already responding to requests for input into the Ministry’s processes.
On her part, Ms Tacko Ndiaye, leader of the FAO Gender Team applauded the ‘gender desk’ initiative and commended the EAF-Nansen Programme for its efforts in mainstreaming gender in the fishery sector of member countries using this approach. "This is a good example of gender mainstreaming in practice," she said.
Next steps for 2023, and beyond
In the discussion on what to focus on in 2023 and for the next phase of the Programme, it was revealed that very few national fisheries institutions have gender focal points, and few still have a gender unit and a gender strategy. Therefore, work planning from 2023 and beyond will focus on raising institutional awareness on the need to pay attention to gender mainstreaming. Initial requests for support have also been received to replicate the fisheries ‘gender desk’ model in some countries, which will be followed up on.
Ms Jennifer Gee, Team Leader of the Gender Team at the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division pledged her team’s support for the Programme’s gender work. “The Gender Team is looking forward to continuing the rich collaboration which has been established with the EAF-Nansen Programme in ensuring the mainstreaming of Gender in the fisheries sectors of member countries into 2023 and beyond.”
“For the next phase, we seek to build on the momentum gained during the first phase and step up the efforts to empower women in the fisheries sector and ensure that violence against women, children, people with disabilities and elders in fishing communities is eliminated,” Ms Tandstad concluded.
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