Largely overlooked in gender-related peacebuilding programming to date, interventions around natural resources, environment and climate change provide significant opportunities to empower women politically and economically, and to strengthen their contributions to peace. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is committed to mainstreaming gender considerations through all its work to empower women and address gender inequality.
Women and girls play important roles in the management of natural resources worldwide. In fragile and conflict-affected communities in particular, women are likely to depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, and to be the primary providers of water, food and energy for their families and communities.
As a consequence, women’s livelihoods – and the welfare of their communities – are especially susceptible to major shocks such as conflict and climatic disasters. At the same time, conflict and natural disasters can change the prevailing social dynamics and lead to new economic and political opportunities for women, such as roles in mediation and conflict resolution.
Since the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, which acknowledges the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls, there has been a gradual increase in the number of women taking part in peace processes. However, many barriers remain to ensuring that they can engage substantively and have the ability to influence key outcomes.
In 2016, four UN agencies – UNEP, UN Women, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) – formed the Joint Programme on Women, Natural Resources and Peace, a collaboration designed to strengthen women’s participation in issues of natural resources, environment and climate change. The aim of the programme is to empower women politically and economically by promoting their involvement in three areas: dialogue, mediation, and conflict resolution efforts; governance and decision-making at all levels; and economic recovery and sustainable development.
Building on the joint analysis published in the flagship report titled Women and Natural Resources: Unlocking the Peacebuilding Potential, the four partners are working to pilot test innovative approaches in the field and develop good practices for using natural resource-based interventions as a tool for strengthening women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution efforts; democratic governance; economic recovery and sustainable development.
The pilot projects are designed to test different ways of empowering women through conflict prevention and peacebuilding roles involving natural resource-related interventions. Though global in nature, the Joint Programme is committed to dedicating a minimum of two-thirds of its resources to working directly in conflict-affected countries. The first pilot project was successfully implemented in Sudan, while other projects are ongoing in Colombia and the Great Lakes region of Africa.
In late 2018, the Joint Programme completed its first pilot project in Sudan and published its findings in a report titled Promoting Gender-Responsive Approaches to Natural Resource Management for Peace. The pilot project was aimed at promoting natural resources-based interventions as a tool for women’s political and economic empowerment in peacebuilding contexts.
Based on the findings from the pilot projects, the Joint Programme is developing a range of tools and resources to help those working in peacebuilding and development to analyse the risks and opportunities of different approaches. The tools include training programmes and a guide to good practice, and a knowledge platform – launched in March 2019 – which brings together practitioners, researchers, policymakers and others and allows them to share their experiences and knowledge on gender, natural resources, climate change and peace. The knowledge platform is hosted and co-produced by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.
UNEP supports the Government of Sudan to ensure gender concerns are mainstreamed into environmental policies and in accordance with Sudan's obligations to the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan.
Gender-Responsive Natural Resource Governance and Climate−Resilient Livelihoods for Women and Other Marginalized Groups in Blue Nile Region
In the Blue Nile region, UNEP is working jointly with UN Women and UNDP on a 30-months (2022-2024) project titled Supporting Sustainable Peace in Blue Nile Region through Gender−Responsive Natural Resource Governance, Inclusive Conflict Resolution Mechanisms and Climate−Resilient Livelihoods.
Building sustainable peace in the region requires an integrated approach to addressing tensions over land and natural resources which lie at the heart of the conflict, while promoting the leadership and essential capacities of women in natural resource management and conflict resolution. Such efforts are crucial to support the implementation of the recent peace agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM−N) and the government of Sudan. While there is no “one size fit all” method for peacebuilding, the integrated approach developed through the Joint Programme for Women, Natural Resources, Climate and Peace includes three core principles for delivering integrated programming:
1) Using sequenced interventions, seeking to meet immediate livelihood needs first before engaging women in governance and peacebuilding activities, to both invest in climate−resilient livelihood options and to build trust with the community.
2) Supporting training and capacity building for women in conflict mediation and resolution related to natural resources at local levels and linking these efforts to the broader peace architecture.
3) Leveraging women’s participation in natural resource governance and management to shift community attitudes about the capacity of women to engage in leadership and decision−making more broadly.
Central to the development of this methodology has been the strong interagency partnership between UNEP, UN Women, UNDP and UN PBSO established to design and implement the pilot project in North Kordofan, which contributed distinct yet complementary expertise on natural resource management and climate adaptation, sustainable livelihoods, dialogue and mediation, and women’s leadership and capacity building.
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