22 October 2015: The Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) launched a call for public comments on the Fund’s proposed new gender policy. Building on the human rights based-approach of the Fund’s Environmental and Social Policy, the gender policy proposal aims to ensure that projects ensure full and equitable participation of women and men in project decisions, and receive comparable social and economic benefits.
The gender policy proposal follows an AFB decision to strengthen the integration of gender considerations in the Fund’s policies and procedures. At its 26th meeting, held on 8-9 October 2015, in Bonn, Germany, the Board recognized the importance of streamlining and strengthening the integration of gender considerations in policies and procedures of the Fund’s work, and welcomed the policy proposal.
The proposal includes definitions of key gender concepts, and states the following objectives: achieving more effective, sustainable and equitable adaptation outcomes and impacts; providing women and men with equal opportunity to build resilience, address their differentiated vulnerability and increase adaptation capacity; address and mitigate against potential project or programme risks for women and men in adaptation actions financed by the Fund; and contribute to addressing knowledge and data gaps in gender-related vulnerabilities and accelerate learning about gender-equal adaptation measures and strategies. Its key principles include commitment, comprehensiveness, accountability, competencies, resource allocation, and knowledge generation and communications.
Comments can be submitted to the Fund Secretariat by email (afbsec@adaptation-fund.org) until 31 December 2015.
The Adaptation Fund was established under the UNFCCC’s Kyoto Protocol. The Fund is financed in part by government and private donors, as well as from a 2% share of proceeds of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) issued under the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. [AFB Press Release] [Proposal for a Gender Policy of the Adaptation Fund]