Gender

Blog: Spotlighting Tools to Defend Women’s Rights at the UN Commission on the Status of Women

2 May 2024

By Ana Osuna Orozco and Daniela Velit Women make up half of humanity and yet we are underrepresented in decision-making globally; we hold much less economic power; we face disproportionate levels of domestic and other kinds of violence; we have poorer access to education; we bear the brunt of unpaid care work; we are also … Read more

New cost-free reporting tool is a breakthrough for community monitoring

23 June 2023

A new system in Kenya allows community members to send real-time alerts of violations of women’s rights free of charge, further breaking down technology and financial barriers to citizen-led monitoring. Since 2022, RFUK has worked in Kenya with the Kenya Land Alliance and TMG Think Tank for Sustainability to develop a digital reporting and monitoring … Read more

Using a gender-sensitive approach to shape meaningful participation in forest protection

14 March 2023

Following on from International Women’s Day, we want to continue shining a spotlight on the vital importance of ensuring women’s meaningful participation in rainforest protection initiatives. Women are key forest users with important roles in the agricultural industry and unique knowledge of forest diversity, however they are often underrepresented in forest governance and community-based monitoring … Read more

#IWD 2023: Rural women at the heart of participatory forest resource management

8 March 2023

A guest Blog from our ForestLink partners: In Cameroon, the forestry sector plays an important role in the national economy, and provides a range of essential social and environmental functions for many local and indigenous communities. As a result, the sector also faces several tensions related to the proper management of its resources, including the socio-economic precariousness … Read more

A new chapter for community monitoring: women’s land rights in Kenya

15 December 2022

We are excited to announce RFUK’s partnership with TMG Think Tank and Kenya Land Alliance, along with their local partners Taita Taveta Human Rights Watch, Sauti ya wanawake, and Shibuye Community Health Workers, to launch a new project aimed at helping rural women in Kenya report abuses and threats to their land rights.   While favourable … Read more

Rural Women and Community Forest Monitoring: A Learning Experience

9 May 2022

A guest Blog from our ForestLink partners: Woman community leader and young community observer in the middle of a data collection session using CAT S31 phones equipped with the “Collectaur” application © ECODEV 2020 Forests provide a wide range of products and materials essential to human life, and are integral to some 500 million people living in … Read more

Perspectives on Gender and Equality from our Community Forests Project

19 April 2022

The ‘Community Forest’ model in DRC offers an unprecedented opportunity for communities there to legally secure, manage and protect their traditional forests. But to assure the delivery of equitable and sustainable outcomes, there is a need to ensure they are developed by the communities themselves, with actively inclusive processes to ensure the information obtained on … Read more

NGOs respond to the proposed weakening of the Post-2020 GBF

16 March 2022

RFUK and a group of environmental NGOs have written a letter to the Working Group of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, stating their deep concern over the planned weakening of the standards and principles of the Framework. Under a stated intention of making the proposal clear and concise, all “cross-cutting issues” will be removed from … Read more

Celebrating women in leadership: experiences of women in the fight to protect the world’s rainforests

8 March 2021

RFUK has long understood that women have a central role to play in protecting and managing the world’s rainforests. They are the main providers of food, water and medicine to their families, who depend greatly on rainforests for their livelihoods. They hold vast traditional knowledge of their forests and their biodiversity. This understanding informs our … Read more

Women’s Participation in Community Forestry in the DRC

29 October 2019

Based on a literature review and field research with communities in Equateur province, this study provides an overview of gender inequalities in the context of community forestry in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also puts forward recommendations for improving women’s participation in community forestry activities.