15 May 2012
Central America Discusses Mainstreaming Gender into Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management Policy
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Responding to a mandate from Heads of State, three Central American Integration System (SICA) institutions jointly convened a workshop on mainstreaming gender into national and regional policies, programmes and instruments on climate change and disaster risk management policies that will result in a regional "roadmap" on the issue.

20 April 2012: Several institutions of the Central American Integration System (SICA) have co-hosted a Central American Workshop on Gender, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, to prepare a regional roadmap for policies tackling the linkages among gender, climate change and disaster risk management.

The Central American workshop was held from 18-20 April 2012, in San Salvador, El Salvador, and arises from a December 2011 mandate from the XXXVIII Ordinary Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the SICA member States calling for mainstreaming the gender perspective in all SICA work related to climate change and disaster risk management. SICA member States include Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

In addition to a general discussion of the gender dimensions of the two policy fields, the workshop examined the status, problems and needs of national policies and programmes to mainstream gender perspectives in policies and practice regarding disaster risk management and climate change adaptation. The workshop also considered the need for mainstreaming gender into regional instruments such as the Central American Policy on Integrated Risk Management, the Regional Strategy on Climate Change and the Strategic Framework on Climate Risk Management.

The roadmap, which will guide SICA policy going forward, will be presented to the May 2012 VI International Congress on Gender and Risk Management to be held in Colombia.

The workshop was co-hosted by SICA’s Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), the Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America (CEPREDENAC) and the Council of Women’s Affairs Ministers (COMMCA), with support from the Spanish International Development Cooperation Agency (AECID), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). [CCAD Press Release (in Spanish)] [CEPREDENAC Press Release (in Spanish)]

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