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IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L8296956.htm
Women
Demand Bigger Say in UN Climate Talks - IUCN
08 December 2008
Reuters
By
Megan Rowling
POZNAN, Poland, Dec 8 (Reuters) -
United Nations climate change talks should do more to incorporate women's
concerns into negotiations on a new global pact, environmental and women's
groups said on Monday.
The International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said poor women in developing countries would be
affected most by climate change because of its impact on agriculture, food
security and water management -- traditionally women's tasks.
It also said they are more likely to
be killed in disasters caused by extreme weather -- girls in some cultures do
not learn how to swim or climb trees. Despite this, most of the debate on
climate change at U.N. talks has been "gender-blind", it said.
"As women, we look for water
and firewood -- we understand the environment better. And as women, we believe
gender issues must be incorporated in all decision making on climate
change," said Rejoice Mabudafhasi, South Africa's deputy minister for
environment and tourism.
GenderCC, an international network
of non-governmental organisations, called on governments at the Dec. 1-12 talks
in Poland to adopt a resolution on gender justice and set up a group that could
make formal inputs into the negotiations.
It also proposed around a third of
funds to help countries adapt to the effects of climate change should be
earmarked for local work that builds women's resilience.
"We need new funding
instruments beyond market-based mechanisms, otherwise women and their
endeavours to mitigate climate change will not benefit," said Dorah Lebelo
of the Greenhouse Project in South Africa.
Lorena Aguilar, IUCN gender advisor,
said the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change was the only international
convention without a mandate to address gender issues and should develop a
strategy to change this.
Women at the Dec. 1-12 talks said
they were disappointed at the lack of interest in their proposals from the U.N.
climate change secretariat and government negotiators.
Women should not be sidelined in
climate change policies because they have environmental knowledge that could
help protect people, the groups argued.
Mazoe Gondwe, a small farmer from
Malawi, said her community was already adapting to unpredictable rains by
planting mixed crops, using irrigation and digging crop rows closer together to
boost production. But they needed better technology.
"Women are not just helpless
victims -- they are powerful agents of change, and their leadership is
critical," IUCN's Aguilar said. (Reporting by Megan Rowling, editing by
Sophie Hares)
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