In terms of good news, ten states, including Bangladesh, agreed on the importance of empowering rural women as critical actors for enhancing agricultural and rural development, as well as food and nutritional security.

However, key text was deleted or ‘bracketed’, as was the case with the US and important text on right to food and replacing ‘equity’ with ‘inclusion’. The Women’s Major Group (WMG) said this will impact negatively on poor women around the world.

What became clear by the end of the session is negotiations have only just begun.

Read the full report here

Social and gender equality and environmental justice must form the heart of sustainable development, and of the outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

This international summit from 20- 22 June 2012 marks 20 years after the first UN conference on sustainable development. Yet 20 years later, great social and economic inequalities still remain, especially for rural, indigenous and other marginalised women.

Our campaign uses a rights-based approach to promoting just development. Development will not be sustainable without fulfilling the human rights of marginalised women.

APWLD is helping lead the way as part of the Women’s Major Group, a network of over 50 women’s organisations worldwide, and is adding the voices of Asia Pacific women into the Rio+20 outcome document.

Through issues and recommendations identified at all levels will be developed into policy recommendations. They will further inform initiatives on sustainable development goals and feminist architecture for expansion to ensure initiatives match the development priorities of marginalised women.

Join in and add your voice!

Assert Women’s Right to Resources & Development! campaign is based on the rights and equity based approach to promoting just and equitable development. Development will not be sustainable without fulfilling the human rights of marginalised women. The campaign is convened by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), the region’s leading network of feminist organisations and women, and an independent, non-government, non-profit organisation active for 25 years.

This is a platform for you, our partner activists and groups, to share information on your activities and keep us informed on what is happening in your community as well as nationally, regionally and internationally. We encourage you to post comments, photos, and videos to share with our network.

For information on this site, please contact: apwld@apwld.org

Click here to download the campaign notes

The zero draft fails to raise our enthusiasm, it lacks ambition, concrete proposals for global instruments necessary to address the shortcomings of the last 20 years, concrete targets and timelines and funding mechanisms.

The emerging crisis of climate change increases the urgency for an outcome document that reflects the urgent need for environmental justice.

Many women’s lives and livelihoods suffer from the current injustices. We feel that the sections 1 and 2 should strongly voice the failure of the neo-liberal system, where corporate interests have priority over human lives – and should acknowledge that small adjustments are not enough. A major paradigm shift is necessary.

Issues of land, energy and food are crucial to women. Women produce much of the world’s food but also disproportionally experience negative impacts from the extractive sectorand from agroindustry – landgrabbing, agrofuels, mining, poisoning with pesticides. Measures to ensure food sovereignty for local communities will support production of their own healthy, nutritious food, and reduce dependency on the agro-chemical industry and food dumping from the North.”

APWLD member Azra Talat Sayeed of Roots for Equity representing the Women’s Major Group

Read the full intervention here

Side Event Hosted by APWLD- Gender responsive adaptation and low carbon development: The role of indigenous women in Asia, Africa and the Pacific

With 90 participants, almost full room capacity, five women from Asia, the Pacific and Africa shared with the audience the needs, gaps, strategies and recommendations for rural women to deal with the adverse impact of climate change. Although the political, social and economic situations women are located in differ, reports from five different countries similarly revealed that existing inequality is exacerbated by the climate change impact.

It was confirmed that awareness raising, information sharing and capacity building with regards to climate change-related policies and politics and women’s human rights are the areas which urgently need to be strengthened.

Access to financial resources by rural women’s groups and community organisations is identified as one of the key areas women need to strategise. Participants agreed that the issues raised through climate change impact cannot be addressed in isolation with sustainable development policy.

The side event was also the opportunity for APWLD to launch Climate Justice Briefs: Women’s Adaptation Strategies, documenting the multi-layered issues of climate change and the impact on women in Asia Pacific, from the perspective of rural and indigenous and Dalit women who directly participated in the 2010- 2011 research.

These five reports examine the impact of climate change in our communities, discuss how climate change exacerbates gender inequalities, and present our policy demands to promote meaningful change for women in our community.

The full briefs from the five research areas are available here:

http://www.apwld.org/latest-news/apwld-releases-climate-justice-briefs/#more-1592

Opening: Dorah Marema (GenderCC, South Africa)

Speakers

Vernie Yocogan-Diano (APWLD/CWEARC/Innabuyog, Philippines)- Rural Women`s Adaptation Strategies – Indigenous Practices

Kurukulasuriya Antanat Roshanthi Fernando (APWLD/SVFWO/NAFSO, Sri Lanka)- Adaptation Strategies of Women in Small Scale Fisheries

Elizabeth Letlhaku (Siphephile Waste Recycling Cooperative, South Africa)- Grassroots Experiences with Climate Change and Coping Strategies, Financial Needs

Ruiti Uriano Aretaake/Ulamila Wragg (GenderCC, Kiribati & Cook Islands)- Gender responsive adaptation strategies in the Pacific Region

For the latest updates from our team at COP17:

https://twitter.com/#!/apwld

http://www.facebook.com/apwld.ngo

This one hour session will be space for participants to identify the pressing issues on climate finance and explore strategies for gender justice and women’s rights with the Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights. Also participants are expected to share related cases and issues experienced by women to integrate the perspective from the ground in his reports.

Programme

Welcome

Introduction by Dr. Cephas Lumina, United Nations Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights

Roundtable: How to ensure that climate finance is effective for gender justice

Climate finance additionality (input by the Expert followed by Q&A)

Design of climate financing mechanisms, including role of international financial institutions (input by the Expert followed by Q&A)

Protection of human rights, including equality, food, livelihoods (Interactive session)

Closing

Gender-responsive adaptation & low carbon development

The role of rural and indigenous women in Asia, Africa and the Pacific

Side Event, Durban COP17

Thursday, 1 December 2011 | 11.30 | Blyde River Room (DEC)

Welcome: Dorah Marema (GenderCC, South Africa)

Speakers

Vernie Yocogan-Diano (APWLD/CWEARC/Innabuyog, Philippines): Rural Women`s Adaptation Strategies – Indigenous Practices

Kurukulasuriya Antanat Roshanthi Fernando (APWLD/SVFWO/NAFSO, Sri Lanka): Adaptation Strategies of Women in Small Scale Fisheries

Elizabeth Letlhaku (Siphephile Waste Recycling Cooperative, South Africa): Grassroots Experiences with Climate Change and Coping Strategies, Financial Needs

Ruiti Uriano Aretaake/Ulamila Wragg (GenderCC, Kiribati & Cook Islands): Gender responsive adaptation strategies in the Pacific Region

Facilitators

Frances Quimpo (APWLD, Philippines)

Bettina Peifer (GenderCC, Germany)

Contact: Tomoko Kashiwazaki Email: riwwenpo@apwld.org Mobile: +27 (0) 729908706

Side Event Durban COP17, 1 Dec Rural, Indigenous Women

“Climate Justice Briefs: Women’s Adaptation Strategies” documents the issues of climate change on women in Asia Pacific, with rural and indigenous women directly part of the research, participating in the collection and documentation of the effects of climate change on their villages and districts. These five reports culminated from 2011 participatory action research with local partners, conducted “to document the impact of climate change in our communities, discuss how climate change exacerbates gender inequalities, and present our policy demands to promote meaningful change for women in our community.”

Research teams from four countries participated: Tamil Nadu, India; North Jakarta Indonesia; Abra province, Philippines; Rizal province, Philippines; and Puttalam and Kalmunai districts, Sri Lanka.

The briefs document the specific and devastating impact recent changes in climate have had on women in these areas. Agricultural failure, degradation of traditional sources of income, drought and flooding are just some examples. As a result, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions, land tenure security and increased domestic violence have increased, while access to health care, literacy rates and educational opportunities have decreased, due to less income and more women and girls further burdened with economic survival of their families.

The research teams provide important policy recommendations and mitigation strategies for lawmakers, and government and community actors to make gender-specific systemic changes to directly address the impact on women and ensure their participation in the process.

Full briefs here:

Climate Justice- India

-Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED)

Climate Justice- Indonesia

-Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity of Rights)

Climate Justice- Philippines CWEARC

-Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center (CWEARC); and Innabuyog

Climate Justice- Philippines AMIHAN

-AMIHAN Federation of Peasant Women, Inc.

Climate Justice- Sri Lanka

-National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO)