Gender at the 3rd World Conservation Congress of IUCN - The World Conservation Union:  Nobel Prize Winner From Kenya Highlights Importance of Women’s Perspectives

San José, October 13, 2004. FIRE. The 2004 Nobel Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai of Kenya will be attending the 3rd World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, November 17-25, to be held by IUCN - The World Conservation Union.  Maathai, who is currently Deputy Environment Minister of Kenya and founder of the primarily women’s Green Belt Movement in her country, is a strong example of the importance of including women and a gender perspective in environmental issues and movements.  

This gender perspective will also be emphasized at the World Conservation Congress by the Gender Caucus, whose purpose is “to define strategies to ensure that gender is addressed in a comprehensive way at the event.”

Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her longtime efforts to fight the negative effects of deforestation and desertification. Her leading role as an campaigner for conservation began after she planted some trees in her back garden and organized women to do the same. Upon granting her the award, the Nobel Committee said that “Ms. Maathai stands at the front for the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and Africa. She has taken a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s
rights in particular.”

Like Wangari, the Gender Caucus emphasizes that millions of women worldwide struggle alongside men on a daily basis to contribute, from their own experience, to environmental conservation and the promotion of human rights, claiming that gender makes the difference on the road to one integrated world.  Similarly, the policy of the World Conservation Union states that “gender equality and equity are matters of fundamental human rights and social justice, and a pre-condition for sustainable development.”

The Gender Caucus notes that women make use of resources at their disposal differently from men. Examples as evidence for this claim include:  

•        A study from the Ivory Coast reported that raising women´s share of household income reduced household expenditures on alcohol and cigarettes but increased spending on food.

•        In Gambia, the share of cereal production under women´s control added 322 more calories per adult.

A major concern of the Gender Caucus is that gender is being “mainstreamed” into many policies of environmental and conservation organizations today, which basically ends up making it invisible.  This and other related issues will be the center of the Gender Caucus’ efforts at the 3rd World Conservation Congress, whose main theme is: “People and Nature – only one world”.

Women are taking an additional theme to the event: “Gender makes the difference,” to showcase how the intersection between people and nature needs to include looking at how the different experiences of women and men are relevant to their livelihood and the sustainability of the planet and its peoples.

IUCN – The World Conservation Union has had a gender policy since its last World Conservation Congress in 2000.  Today, UICN has a Gender Advisor in charge of overlooking the Gender Policy. The policy promotes equity and equality as a crucial factor for the sustainability of the environment and as an integral part of the conservation efforts.

Mainstreaming gender is the expected step at the IUCN Congress. Thus, member organizations organized the Gender Caucus, which includes: an Exhibition Booth to showcase gender and conservation initiatives, participation in panels and workshops showcasing the expertise of women and men in making gender matter, training sessions regarding gender, a communications campaign by Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) and gender focal points for all working groups during the Congress.

IUCN - The World Conservation Union is a member organization based in some 140 countries, which includes 77 States, 114 government agencies, and 800-plus NGOs. More than 10,000 internationally-recognized scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions. IUCN´s mission is “to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable Its 1000 staff members in offices around the world are working on some 500 projects.  For more than 50 years this ‘Green Web’ of partnerships has generated environmental conventions, global standards, scientific knowledge and innovative leadership.

The World Conservation Congress is the general assembly of IUCN members, which takes place every three to four years. The Congress combines the business of the Union with technical conservation fora and provides an opportunity for the sharing of information and experience among IUCN's worldwide constituency of members, Commission members, stakeholders and partner organizations.

The Congress encompasses three principal elements: conducting the business of the Union, assessing the work of IUCN Commissions and taking stock of conservation. It provides a forum for debate on how best to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable; and an opportunity for contact and informal exchanges between representatives of IUCN's members, Commission members and the wider IUCN constituency.

The World Conservation Forum will be a global conservation event for governments, civil society, and the private sector to consider and discuss conservation and development issues at regional and global levels. The Forum will explore the relationships between people, development and conservation, providing a vision of where our conservation community and thus IUCN will need to be in 10 years in the implementation of its vision.

Some 3,000 IUCN members, partners and guests are expected in Thailand´s Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok for the event which will conduct over 300 sessions, including Global Synthesis Workshops and a series of related workshops and events organized by IUCN members. The World Conservation Forum will explore the world's most pressing sustainable
development challenges under four broad themes.

Her Majesty Queen Sirikit will open the Congress in a ceremony including IUCN patron Her Majesty Queen Noor, Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and IUCN President Yolanda Kakabadse.

For more information about the Gender Caucus and other related activities write to:  

Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) at pressgerndercaucus@yahoo.com
Lorena Aguilar, Senior Gender Advisor, IUCN at: lorena.aguilar@iucn.org