Women, men, and environmental change: the gender dimensions of environmental policies and programs

This paper examines how gender differences play a part in natural resource use, how resource depletion affects women and men differently, and what has been done worldwide to integrate gender concerns in environmental planning.The author finds that the different roles and responsibilities of women and men are closely linked to environmental change. This is true both for how women and men affect the environment through their economic and household activities and how the resulting environmental changes affect people's well-being. Understanding these gender differences is therefore an essential part of developing policies aimed at both better environmental outcomes and improved health and well-being.The paper proposes a number of actions policymakers and planners can take to improve the integration of gender concerns into environmental planning:improve data collection on women's and men's resource use, knowledge of, access to and control over resources, and opportunities to be involved in decision-makingtrain staff and management on the relevance of gender issues to environmental outcomesestablish procedures for incorporating a gender perspective in planning, monitoring, and evaluating environmental projectsensure opportunities for women to participate in decisions about environmental policies and programs at all levels, including roles as designers, planners, implementers, and evaluatorsfoster commitment at all levels — local, national, and international — so that the integration of gender concerns into policies and programs leads to more equitable and sustainable development Continued commitment and increased capacity at all levels of society are essential for achieving these goals.[authors]