31 January 2011: Addressing the first regular session of the Executive Board of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), taking place from 31 January-7 February 2011, at UN Headquarters in New York, US, UNDP Associate Administrator Rebecca Grynspan reported on the review of the implementation of UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy (2008-2013).

The review found that UNDP has become a more gender-aware organization, focusing on: promoting women’s political participation; integrating gender dimensions of climate change; ensuring gender-responsive macro-planning; promoting the rule of law and access to justice for women and girls, in particular in crisis settings; and ensuring accountability for gender equality results. Reporting on the goal of managing the environment and energy for sustainable development, Grynspan highlighted UNDP’s ongoing efforts to promote women’s role in building a climate-resilient and sustainable future. She described the Global Gender and Climate Alliance, which trained women delegates from developing countries to participate in climate change policy debates. She also described the efforts made in integrating gender into the operational frameworks of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the Adaptation Fund, and underscored that UNDP will continue to advocate for gender equity in climate financing and a gender-equitable financial architecture for climate change.

On adaptation, Grynspan stressed that UNDP has provided technical support for national adaptation programmes in 20 countries under the Africa Adaptation Programme, seven of which have selected gender as a national adaptation priority. In this respect, she also noted that UNDP will scale up this work to help countries bring a gender dimension into climate change planning and programming on adaptation, as well as on mitigation and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

On the issue of maintaining and improving staff capacity on gender issues, she indicated that UNDP has been making considerable efforts and is now recruiting experts and building rosters on gender and climate change. She also emphasized that more attention should be given to integrating gender in disaster prevention, risk reduction policies and recovery programmes. [UNDP Press Release]