Can We Talk 16: Reflections and Feedback on Gender Mainstreaming at GHACOF
When discussing gender, the first thought that often comes to mind is women - an association shaped by historical gender inequalities and the emphasis on women’s rights. However, gender encompasses a much broader spectrum, including the roles, identities, and experiences of all individuals, regardless of whether they are women or men. Each group faces unique challenges influenced by cultural, social, and economic factors.
At IGAD Climate Predictions and Applications Centre (ICPAC), our efforts towards creating awareness are highlighted by the linkages between gender and climate services, ensuring that vulnerable populations are included. We are achieving this by encouraging the participation of gender focal points from member states at the Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF) sessions, incorporating gender panels (which have featured since GHACOF 65), including a gender considerations in the Summary for Decision-Makers’ advisories, and promoting fair representation and engagement at Participatory scenario Planning (PSP) workshops and Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) workshops.
During the 16th Can We Talk session, we engaged in a rich and insightful discussion on the ‘Reflections and Feedback on Gender Mainstreaming at GHACOF’. Having this conversation at a regional level is crucial for raising awareness among diverse stakeholders and emphasizing the importance of integrating gender considerations into climate services. While we have made some progress, we are still at a teething stage, taking initial steps to understand and implement gender-sensitive approaches.
One of the objectives of the IGAD Gender policy 2023-2030 is to provide a roadmap for IGAD both at the secretariat and specialized/technical offices level to advance gender equality in their programs. This includes the need for gender responsive climate services across the region, with implementation cascading down from the national to the county and community levels through PSPs.
Recognizing the diverse issues within the communities is an important step towards designing gender-responsive activities in our projects. Unfortunately, there is a significant lack of gender-disaggregated data, limiting our understanding of the specific gendered impacts of climate change, needs and challenges faced by different gender groups.. Therefore, there is a growing need to collect gender and social inclusion disaggregated data and to shift towards gender-responsive and gender transformative approaches that go beyond mere participation metrics. We must actively address unique needs, challenges, and opportunities of different gender groups in our interventions, while also tackling the underlying root causes of vulnerabilities. As we do so, we need to work with communities to help them appreciate the importance of gender and social inclusion. Contextualization is also important to ensure that different aspects such as their beliefs, religious practices and cultural values are appropriately incorporated into the approach.
To bridge this gap, PSPs are instrumental as they intentionally involve women, men, youth, and older persons in the workshops, allowing them to share their own experiences and the challenges they face. This creates a better understanding of how different gender groups are affected and guide the co-production of gender responsive climate advisories.However, despite these deliberate efforts to mainstream gender in the climate services value chain at the community level, challenges persist.
Cultural and religious factors often take precedence, such as barring women from attending public participation forums. Even when women can attend, they may not feel empowered to speak. Recognizing these challenges is essential for crafting measures that ensure all voices are heard.For instance, where necessary, creating separate sessions for men, women, youth, people living with disabilities, and older persons to ensure diverse perspectives are captured. It is also important to acknowledge the diversity within communities regarding beliefs, norms, cultures, and roles and responsibilities, and to consider measures that reflect this complexity.
Gender focal points (FP) have participated in the past three GHACOFs (GHACOF 66,67, and 68). Through their attendance and online training and engagement sessions they are gradually learning about climate services, the potential impacts of different seasons on the climate-sensitive sectors, and the scale of the interventions.This knowledge will enable them to contribute more effectively to sectoral advisories. Being this a learning curve for all involved, sector leads need to embrace the insights provided by the FPs to develop people-centered advisories.
The way information is communicated is equally critical, as messages can easily become distorted. There is a need for a standardized gender-sensitive language at the regional, national and community levels. By embracing the contributions from FPs, we can develop more gender-responsive climate advisories. There is also a need to strengthen coordination at the country level to ensure synergy and information sharing across different institutions, keeping in mind that gender issues cut across all sectors.
As an organization, understanding and addressing the various gender issues is crucial. We must ask ourselves: How sensitive are we to influencing social constructs in a way that promotes equity?