Pakistan Launches First Ever Climate Change Gender Action Plan

News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Climate Change Gender Action Plan is a pilot initiative, first it type aimed at engaging women’s activism to drive responses to climate change.

In its formulation, 300 women were directly engaged along with key stakeholders from different sectors.

Pakistan is going to launch its first-ever National Climate Change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP) on Wednesday. The aim is to the build capacity of the Ministry of Climate Change by strengthening institutional mechanisms to deliver Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded projects.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),  in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), is driving the Green Climate Fund (GCF) initiative to achieve “Gender-responsive Readiness for Pakistan: Building capacity and encouraging innovative approaches through development of a National Climate Change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP)”.

With support from the GCF and technical guidance from the IUCN and other key partners, the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with key stakeholders have developed the first National Climate Change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP) of Pakistan following a comprehensive consultative process.

“ccGAP is developed around the six priority sectors: agriculture and food security, forest and biodiversity, disaster risk reduction, water and sanitation, integrated coastal management and mitigation, and energy and transport, said an officer.

Primarily a multi-stakeholder, cross-sector capacity-building process was led by the Ministry of Climate Change and IUCN to develop national capacity, focal groups, and a cross-sector national action plan, fostering innovative project design to strengthen national and provincial climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience through gender-responsive strategies and activities.

This pilot effort will help to enhance existing and nascent policy and programming, while elevating the country’s position as an international leader toward building inclusive sustainable development, climate action and resilience for all.

This comprehensive process directly engaged approximately 300 women, gender experts, women organizations and key stakeholders from the priority sectors and from all over Pakistan.

This is a great achievement of Government of Pakistan in multiple ways, particularly because it is the first ever Climate Change Gender Action Plan of Pakistan lead by Ministry of Climate Change and also because it is the first such initiative by GCF to ensure gender mainstreaming in the upcoming GCF funded projects.

The process has engaged representatives and practitioners from all the six priority sectors and across the country. Hence Pakistan’s ccGAP process is an example for the rest of the world.

GCF will use the lessons learnt as a guide for other Gender-responsive Readiness initiatives all over the world.