The UNEP/MAP Coordinator Tatjana Hema reflects on “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, the theme of the 2022 edition of International Women’s Day.
In the Mediterranean, the region that I have the privilege to serve as the Coordinator of the UNEP/MAP- Barcelona Convention Secretariat, there is no shortage of women leadership and creativity. As we strive to implement the UNEP/MAP Medium-Term Strategy (MTS 2022-2027), we must find ways to harness the potential of all women to achieve progress towards healthy marine and coastal ecosystems, and to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals.
How can we ensure that the potential of women is fully tapped to achieve these important goals? On 9 December 2021 we pondered the question at a roundtable with women Heads of delegations during the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. The discussion chaired by Ms. Emine Erdoğan, the First Lady of Turkey, and attended by the then UNEP Deputy Executive Director Joyce Msuya, underscored the need to remove gender-related obstacles that hinder the ability of women and girls to fulfill their potential.
Based on the Global Gender Gap Index, the State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterranean (SoED), a report released by UNEP/MAP and its Regional Activity Centre Plan Bleu in October 2020, indicates that Mediterranean countries score particularly well in educational attainment. However, the report warns that economic participation and opportunity for women remains much lower than for men in all Mediterranean countries. On political empowerment, the situation appears particularly challenging, and only five countries score better than the global average.
In the lead-up to COP 22, nine Contracting Parties had women as Ministers of the Environment. Women taking up leadership positions in environmental management is a major and very welcome development. It is equally important to pursue the enhancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, youth, and disadvantaged communities at all levels.
We at UNEP/MAP are determined to walk the walk on gender equality. In 2021 women represented more than half of the Coordinating Unit staff. Most Regional Activity Centres, which ensure the heavy-lifting of the scientific and technical work underpinning the delivery of the UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system's mandate, have already reached gender parity. We continue to actively promote the equal participation of women and men in meetings and activities related to our Programme of Work.
Beyond institutional demographics, we are poring over gender dynamics in the delivery of our mandate, while contributing to SDG-5. This thinking permeates the entire portfolio of projects implemented by UNEP/MAP, including the three EU-funded projects (IMAP-MPA, EcAp Med III, and Marine Litter Med) and the flagship MedProgramme that has devised a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (GMS) cutting across its seven child projects. In delivering action in the field with our partners around the Mediterranean, we observe three important considerations:
- Analyzing gender differences—differences in the way women and men use natural resources must be fully understood to ensure that our work yields positive outcomes for both women and men in an equal and fair manner.
- Moving beyond the vulnerability narrative—Women in marine and coastal settings are not just a "vulnerable group". They are agents of change in climate adaptation where they take up solutions and climate-resilient practices as early adopters, message-multipliers and first responders to disasters.
- Recognizing women as capable stewards of ecosystems—When women are not considered, conservation activities can perpetuate existing gender inequalities. This also calls for women’s equitable participation in decision-making structures of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas.
The Mediterranean region needs the commitment, contributions, creativity, innovation, and leadership of all. This is essential to the much-needed transformative change towards sustainability that we want to see in the Mediterranean region. That transformation cannot occur if half of society cannot contribute to their full potential. We at UNEP/MAP will do everything we can within our mandate to shore up gender equality for people and nature.
