International law instruments as a framework for mainstreaming gender in climate change Rose Mwebaza(PhD)

1
International law instruments as a framework for
mainstreaming gender in climate change Rose
Mwebaza(PhD)
2
Human rights as a starting point
3
Legal Framework

• 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

4
Human rights as a starting point

•  
• 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 womens and mens 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

5
Human rights as a starting point

•  
• 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 womens participation in decision making
  regarding adaptation and mitigation initiatives,
  policies and mechanisms

6
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.

7
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.

8
THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

• 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.

9
THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

• 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 .

10
THE NEXUS BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

• 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.

11
MARY ROBINSON
12
CEDAW

• CEDAW is the principal instrument for the
  protection of womens 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

13
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

14
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

15
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

16
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

17
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

18
CEDAW final thought

• 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

19
UN Human Rights Council

•  
• 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

20
World Conference on Human Rights

• 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

21
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples

•  
• 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)

22
Gender equality
23
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)

24
ECOSOC 2005/31

• 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

25
ECOSOC 2005/31and ECOSOC Resolution 2008/34

• 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.
•  

26
52nd Session Commission on the Status of Women

• 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 womens 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
•  

27
Beijing Platform of Action

• Strategic objective K.1.
• Involve women actively in environmental
  decision-making at all levels
• Strategic objective K.2.
• Integrate gender concerns and perspectives in
  policies and programmes for sustainable
  development
• Strategic objective K.3.
• Strengthen or establish mechanisms at the
  national, regional and international levels to
  assess the impact of development and
  environmental policies on women
•  

28
Disaster Risk Reduction
29
(No Transcript)
30
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)

31
Sustainable development/environment
32
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)

33
Agenda 21

• 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 womens full involvement in
  sustainable development and in public life 
• In the rest of the text there are specific
  mention to women in 159 cases

34
Millennium Declaration

• 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

35
The Rio Conventions and the harmonization
process
36
Convention on Biological Diversity

• 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
  womens 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

37
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 womens 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

38
Convention on Biological Diversity

• 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 Secretariats
  implementation of the plan

39
Convention to Combat Desertification

• 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.

40
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
41
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

• Failed to recognize the gender aspects of climate
  change and omits the issues of gender equality
  and womens participation entirely
• Womens 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

42
Final remark

•   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