The project addresses climate adaptation needs at the government, sector, and community level. It also standardises the use of science-based climate information for decision-making. This is seen as a necessary foundation to underpin awareness raising and long-term policy planning around climate change (Leannem 2018).
To have meaningful impact and create transformative and sustainable change, however, the Van-KIRAP project needs to consider gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI). Climate change has a greater impact on those sections of the population, in all countries, that are most reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods and/or who have the least capacity to respond to natural hazards, such as droughts, landslides, floods and cyclones. Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty, and the majority of the world’s poor are women.
Women’s unequal participation in decision-making processes and labour markets, compounds inequalities and often prevent women from fully contributing to climate-related planning, policymaking, and implementation (United Nations 2020).Yet, women can (and do) play a critical role in response to climate change due to their local knowledge of and leadership in, for example, sustainable resource management and/or leading sustainable practices at the household and community level. Women’s participation at the political level has resulted in greater responsiveness to citizen’s needs, often increasing cooperation across party and ethnic lines and delivering more sustainable peace. At the local level, women’s inclusion at the leadership level has led to improved outcomes of climate related projects and policies. On the contrary, if policies or projects are implemented without women’s meaningful participation it can increase existing inequalities and decrease effectiveness (United Nations 2020).
Read the final report here.