81317963-Capacity and Organisational Development for Women's Empowerment in Sustainable Land Resources Management

People in rural areas are more vulnerable to climate change impacts, crises and disasters. Women are particularly affected as they often do not have the same rights as men, their access to resources is more limited and they are not represented to the same extent in decision-making processes. Women in rural areas are among the biggest bearers of knowledge on the protection, sustainable management and restoration of land resources, as well as agricultural methods that promote health and food security for their communities and societies overall. However, their limited access to means of production, land rights, advisory and financial services and their underrepresentation in local and international decision-making forums often leads to their increased vulnerability to land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. Empowering women in rural areas in managing land economically and ecologically contributes to gender equality and the Rio Conventions - the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The BMZ commissioned project "Women"s Empowerment for Resilient Rural Areas - WE4R" being implemented by GIZ pursues a gender-responsive and gender-transformative approach, working to target and eliminate structural inequalities that lead to lower resilience for rural women in the long run. It started in January 2024 and is projected to last for five years, concluding December 2028. The total budget is 15.7 million euros, of which 5 million euros are from cofinancing with the EU. The project aims to strengthen the rights, resources and representation (3Rs) of women in rural areas in the context of the three Rio Conventions with regard to the sustainable use of land resources in the three African countries Kenya, Madagascar and Mali. The project works with global and national partners to support women in rural areas who are particularly affected by soil degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change. It cooperates with the Secretariats of the Rio Conventions, national ministries and local and regional civil society organisations. It also strives to pool expertise and experience on gender-specific approaches to ensure sustainable and climate-friendly land management. Together with its partners, the project feeds this knowledge into global and national dialogues that promote the implementation of the Rio Conventions. The project focusses on women"s interests with regard to the use of land. It promotes individuals and organisations that are committed to strengthening the rights, resources and representation of women in political decisions and planning (gender change agents). To this end, the project finances measures led by civil society actors and promotes networking among gender change agents. In Mali, Madagascar and Kenya, the project is implementing specific measures to promote women"s rights, access to resources and representation. It makes use of lessons learned at country level and together with its partners incorporates them into global level processes.