Nisha Onta, Knowledge Management Coordinator, presented the Gender Integrated Planning Course, during the Gender Advisory Panel Presentation at the Eleventh Meeting of the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Regional Steering Committee (RSC-11) held on 25-28 October in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. As a member of the Gender Advisory Panel of the MFF , WOCAN was invited to present the WOCAN Gender Integrated Planning Couse as one of the capacity building activities for the MFF Gender Strategy. There was a strong support from SIDA for effective implementation of the Gender Strategy in the Phase 3 of the MFF program.
Representative from National Coordinating Bodies of 11 Asian countries and MFF national and regional staff discussed the achievements and strategies for the phase 3 of the MFF program. Started in 2007, MFF works through National Coordinating Bodies in member countries to provide grants for local project delivery and other activities building resilience of ecosystem-dependent coastal communities. While mangroves are the flagship species due to the major contribution they make to maintain the integrity of coastlines, MFF focuses on all types of coastal ecosystem, including sea grasses and coral reefs.
The initiative is funded by Danida, Norad and Sida and is co-chaired by IUCN and UNDP. The current 10 member countries include Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. At this meeting, Myanmar presented its application and has been officially welcomed as the 11th member country.