2012 has been a watershed year for WOCAN. With its headquarters now firmly established in Thailand, WOCAN has been recognized as a regional player within Asia, evidenced by numerous requests for our services for capacity building, research and event coordination. The selection of WOCAN to implement the Asian Development Bank project, ‘Harnessing Climate Mitigation Initiatives to Benefit Women’ in the greater Mekong region demonstrates recognition of WOCAN’s competence and innovative strategies. The provision of core support from Norad for 2013, a new project with IFAD in Asia and increasing numbers of requests from UN agencies, CGIAR organizations, USAID contractors and others similarly indicate a growing awareness of our capabilities and large network of members.
Increased capacities: 1) in HQ, a Director of Programs, a Knowledge Management Coordinator and Financial Consultant joined WOCAN; 2) a Core Team of Trainers/Facilitators – 17 women and men WOCAN members of 13 countries employed by agriculture and NRM organizations in Africa and Asia – was established. Several members have begun to lead WOCAN activities and fulfill client requests for training services, as for the new IFAD Asia project to build women’s leadership in Lao PDR, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In South Africa, a Coordinator was hired to manage the ‘Reframing Leadership for Gender Equality’ course to be offered in Southern Africa.
New Services:
1) ‘Reframing Leadership for Gender Equality’ course to enhance participants’leadership abilities and competencies to be able to recognize the impact of gender dynamics in their organization and community; assess organizational power dynamics and their impact on careers and work; lead strategically; build and lead teams and build a robust network of influential and powerful women leadersand male supporters within agriculture and natural resource management organizations in Africa and Asia.
2) Women’s Leadership Circles. Currently operative in Nepal, South Africa, and Kenya, WLCs are national-level spaces for women leaders of government, donors, NGOs and the private sector to interact directly with women farmers/entrepreneurs to jointly develop ways to increase the effectiveness of gender-responsive policies by sharing knowledge and information, discussing specific policies and programs, and developing partnerships. Women leaders of all levels develop their leadership skills, increase their knowledge, develop collaborative mechanisms and innovations and improve the accountability of national policies and institutions by building bridges across sectors and levels to address women farmers’ needs and issues.
New partnerships were formed with: 1) HIMWANTI, a federation of women’s grassroots groupsin Nepal, that has been able to expand its impact as a result of WOCAN coaching and partnering; 2)South Africa’s Department of Women, Children, and People with Disabilities (DWCPD); 3) Nepal’s Alternative Rural Energy Promotion Centre, and 4) Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) of the CGIAR. More are in formation in Thailand and Cameroon.
New focus on Women’s Exclusion in Forest Sector WOCAN and The Forests Dialogue organized a global Scoping Dialogue on the Exclusion and Inclusion of Women in the Forest Sector for 33 participants from 13 countries to: create a better understanding of the perceived advantages of and the constraints to including women in natural resource management; identify areas of agreement as well as disagreement, and draw up mutually agreed upon recommendations on how to include women at all levels in ways that can benefit forest-dependent communities and climate change interventions.
