WOCAN was invited to attend the IUCN Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Gender Advisory Panel Special Meeting for IUCN Commission Members on 27 Aug in Bangkok, Thailand. The main objective of the meeting was to provide comments and feedback on the MFF Strategic Framework for Gender Equality Integration and the Gender Action Plan. The session was chaired and facilitated by Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director, IUCN Asia and co-chaired by Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, Regional Councillor and Meher Marker Noshirwani, Regional Vice-Chair Asia, IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic & Social Policy (CEESP). Nisha Onta, Knowledge Management Coordinator, represented WOCAN; other participants were Orawan Raweekoon, National Programme Officer from the Embassy of Sweden, IUCN Country Representatives, Coordinators, and MFF Staff. Steen Christensen, Coordinator of MFF, presented an overview of the MFF program and the participants discussed on the MFF governing structure, program implementation strategy, resilience framework and sustainability strategy.
Maeve Nightingale, Capacity Development Manager and Gender Focal Person for MFF, briefly presented the MFF Phase 3 Proposal on Gender Equality and Rights Perspective. The action plan included institutional level actions, policy and strategy actions and capacity building. Aban Marker Kabraji closed the meeting by highlighting the immediate need to develop training for all MFF staff and project staff on gender Ssensitization and gender integrated planning.
WOCAN was also invited to be on the Gender Advisory Panel for the MFF Program along with UNWomen, UNEP and SIDA. The main role of the panel is to give feedback and monitor the implementation of the gender action plan. The TOR is under review.