PASIG CITY, March 31 (PIA) -- With the ongoing global pandemic exacting a heavier toll on women, training key actors to integrate gender perspectives into efforts to achieve biodiversity and environmental goals is crucial.

This was the core message at the online launch of the gender and biodiversity training materials for South East Asia and the Pacific, which were designed to promote greater gender-responsiveness in biodiversity policy and programming.

In celebration of International Women's Day on 8 March, the launch titled Gender Matters in Biodiversity Conservation: Launch of regional training materials held on 25 March 2021 via Zoom and Facebook live was organised by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in partnership with the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

In his speech, Alexander Shestakov, Director of the Science, Society and Sustainable Futures Division of the Secretariat of the CBD, said the gender and biodiversity training materials are critical to achieving all the objectives of the CBD.

"The preparation of these training materials is a recognition that there is a real need to build an understanding of and capacity to address gender inequalities in respect to biodiversity," Shestakov said, emphasising the timeliness of the training materials given the "disproportionate impacts" of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It has been found that women are carrying a higher burden of care and facing more job insecurities and job loss, as well as an increased rate of gender-based violence", he said.

He said the ACB is well-placed to serve as a coordinating body for the entire ASEAN region to promote the use of the training materials among key individuals and organisations across the member states.

ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim, in opening the online event, expressed commitment to mainstreaming gender in alignment with developing biodiversity synergies across sectors and subregions. The ACB has recently re-instituted its Gender and Biodiversity Committee to reach out to the ASEAN Member States and support their national efforts on gender and biodiversity.

"We welcome collaborations with the regional mechanisms for gender equality and women's empowerment to strengthen our biodiversity and gender mainstreaming initiatives in the Region", Lim said, citing the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women, the ASEAN Committee on Women, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, and the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Network.

Apart from Shestakov and Lim, resource persons in the panel, such as Tanya McGregor, Gender Programme Officer of the Secretariat of the CBD; Maricel Aguilar, Gender Specialist in Philippines; Dr. Mary Kristerie Baleva, ACB External Relations and Policy Specialist; and Katherine Vinegas, Senior Advisor of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, shared their insights on the training materials and how best to disseminate them among a wider audience.

McGregor explained that the three modules of the materials aim to support behavioural change through discussion and sharing of different perspectives related to gender issues.

"It is desired to foster good regional practices for gender-responsive biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. These materials provide a flexible and adaptive learning approach, guided by facilitator nodes and participants' handouts," she said.

McGregor pointed out that steps to synergise gender and biodiversity concerns, including support to the gender-responsive implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and assessment of possible gender-specific indicators, have been undertaken in the region.

Sharing good practices on the ground, Vinegas said efforts to mainstream gender into the NBSAPs of Lao PDR and Myanmar, and into the General Management Plan of Lampi Marine National Park, an ASEAN Heritage Park, improved capacities and led to greater recognition of women empowerment and gender equality.

The initiative to develop regional training materials on gender and biodiversity stemmed from the consultative regional expert workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2017, organised by the Secretariat of the CBD, with support from the Government of Sweden, United Nations Environment Programme's Asia Pacific Office, and GIZ Philippines. (PIA NCR)