gender, tenure and community forests in uganda and nicaragua
DESCRIPTION
In Uganda and Nicaragua, as in many countries, women are still shut out of forestry decisions at all levels – despite everyone agreeing that women’s participation is important. How can we ensure that gender mainstreaming is ‘process-oriented’ rather than merely ‘ticking boxes’? This presentation focuses on a project in Uganda and Nicaragua aimed at improving women's participation. CIFOR scientist Anne Larson gave this presentation on 20 June 2012 at a Rio+20 side event titled ‘Linking policy, practice and research for gender-responsive change in forestry’. The side event aimed to promote discussion and the exchange of ideas on concrete ways to address gender inequalities at different governance levels in forestry research and practice, and the risks and opportunities associated with different strategies and choice of partners.TRANSCRIPT
Gender, Tenure and Community Forests in Uganda and Nicaragua
Anne Larson & Esther Mwangi Rio de Janeiro 20 Junio, 2012
THINKING beyond the canopy
Goal of the research
§ To improve women’s rights to forest resources and livelihoods through increased participation in decision making
§ To enhance stakeholder uptake of policies, practices and strategies to promote women’s participation
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Background
§ Nicaragua • RAAN, indigenous
communities in 5 territories
• Titled communal territories
• No specific mention of gender in forest policy, though gender equity is general principle
§ Uganda • Mpigi, Masaka, Rakai
districts • State forests • Specific mention of
non-discrimination, women’s participation, affirmative action, overcoming gender barrier, etc. in Forest Policy and others
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Specific activities
§ understanding obstacles at multiple levels (research)
§ experimenting with a community level process to overcome obstacles (ACM)
§ promoting uptake of different vision/ perspectives, policies and methods at multiple levels (advisory committee)
§ measuring impact/influence (our success at the two previous points)
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Why? Our theory of change:
§ careful coordination between research and action partners and men and women in communities
§ joint priority setting, open information flows, local problem solving, and capacity building
§ multiple levels of engagement
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Research…
§ Obstacles to women’s participation in decisions
• Nicaragua: “forests and gender” only being considered now, very incipient, and women are shut out of forestry decisions at all levels
• Uganda: in spite of legal framework, policies and strategies, women are shut out of forestry decisions at all levels
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… to action (1)
Adaptive Collaborative Management: Facilitation of processes to implement self-identified solutions to forest-related problems focusing on women’s inclusion and/or improved participation (next presentation)
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Research to action (2)
Promoting uptake: “advisory committee” § Rationale:
• a group of people for continued dialogue on the project ideas § to give feedback, § to disseminate findings, and § to talk to each other.
§ Who? § Policy makers (central, local), NGO representatives,
researchers
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Results so far
§ Guide and advise research § Propose ways in which research findings can be used,
presented § Identify opportunities for funding women’s/community
projects § Help meet demand for services by women/ communities
—mostly tree planting (seedlings, training) § Identify opportunities for linking with other actors
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Research to action (3) Assessing influence
• Perceptions of communities, policy makers, practitioners before (and after) research: attitudes AND behavior
• Community level survey before (and after)
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Opportunities and challenges
§ Challenging to integrate all of these pieces, very important to work through committed, engaged and embedded local/ regional/ national institutions
§ Advisory committee meetings not as frequent as we would like, but there is a lot of contact between meetings
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Opportunities and Challenges
§ Understanding what policy makers really need to make change is not so clear when it comes to gender (culture, biases, deep-seated beliefs) – everyone agrees that “women’s participation is important”, but…
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In conclusion
§ Changes in policies and legal frameworks are a good start. But implementation is still weak.
§ Bureaucrats need budgets, clear strategies, training and monitoring
§ Having impact commonly involves providing data and information (research) and challenging interests (political economy), but with gender issues it also involves challenging attitudes and deep-seated beliefs
§ What is the best way for researchers to do this?
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Questions for discussion
§ Using research to change deep seated beliefs (policy level, community level)
§ Conditions under which ACM will work § How ensure sustainability beyond the time of facilitation § Women as representatives of women’s interests § Changing the perception of youth
§ How ensure gender mainstreaming be “process oriented” rather than merely “tick boxes”?
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Thank you!