Barun Gurung, WOCAN Lead Trainer, and Nisha Onta facilitated the workshop for partners of theEuropean Forest Institute (EFI)- EU FLEGT Facilityfrom 21-23 October in Kuala Lumpur. Commissioned by the Embassy of Sweden’s Regional Gender Facility, the workshops introduced the4 modules of the Gender-Integrated Planning framework. The participants included EFI’s CSO partners and national SmE consultants from Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Facility supports the participation of Small and micro Economic Entities (SmEs) in legal supply chains of timber and timber products. SmEs are a source of growth, jobs and sustainable livelihoods in the Mekong. The SmE work pursues multiple objectives of which one is understanding the gender and promoting gender equality through SmE support activities.
Through national SmE consultants and local partners, the Facility is conducting pilot projects to test solutions to the challenges faced by SmEs in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. Understanding gender dynamics and raising awareness about gender equality among SmEs is one of the objectives of the SmE work. EFI is pursuing this objective by considering gender in the analysis of value chains in which SmEs engage and integrating gender topics into training interventions in collaboration with CSOs.
The participants applied the gender analysis methods and tools to set goals and develop M&E indicators into their exiting action plans.
