Supporting UNCCD Parties to embrace gender equality and women’s empowerment as a guiding principle in LDN projects

In 2018 and 2019, IUCN with UN Women and the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) facilitated gender mainstreaming workshops in the Caribbean, the Philippines and Zambia to support development of gender-responsive Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) projects. These workshops, as part of the "Anchoring agreements on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Rio Conventions" project, aimed to meet the specific needs of Parties toward meeting implementation of the UNCCD Gender Action Plan and national LDN targets. The workshops utilised a unique, participatory methodology, bringing together stakeholders from national and local governments, CSOs, women's groups, and more, to gain a better understanding of gender considerations in LDN specifically, and in the project cycle in general. These workshops complemented a help desk mechanism that provided tailored feedback to nine LDN project proposals made to major funding mechanisms.