Mar 08, 2022
Often, women in developing countries have unequal access to education, information, and leadership roles within climate finance and climate-resilient, low-carbon development investments. Their livelihoods, voices, knowledge and agency are greatly reduced, but the growing and impassioned call for a balance of power is changing how women engage and take charge. The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) is dedicated to utilizing climate finance to recognize women’s specific needs, empower their potential as agents of change, and achieve gender parity in climate-smart development. CIF Senior Social Development Specialist, Nina Kolybashkina, says that “CIF advocates for women’s inclusion and climate leadership opportunities at every level through its work and programs. And the results are tangible, especially in resilience projects.”
CIF's work with Zambia on their Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) is just one successful example of the importance that climate finance plays in fostering transformative changes for women at all levels. Social Development Specialist, Ezgi Canpolat, spoke with in-country and multilateral development bank (MDB) partners to understand why they appreciate enabling environments that support women’s resilience and leadership.
“Our stakeholders understand that women have a large reserve of untapped climate adaptation and mitigation knowledge. If we can institutionalize efforts to create leadership and organizer roles at community, sub-national and national levels, it only enhances and better informs our sustainable development and livelihood efforts for everyone.”
One of Zambia’s local PPCR projects has financed an all-women cooperative on Mbeta Island in Zambia’s Sioma District that runs a fish farm. By empowering these women and giving them ownership of their sustainable income, they can feed their community, build resilience to climate change, and support future generations livelihoods. On a national level, PPCR projects are working to incorporate gender climate risk assessments for all climate projects, include both female and male representation in sub-projects, and increase land rights access to women. By focusing on these national objectives, Zambia is creating new institutional policies and reforms that work to create a gender power balance for systematic change.
PPCR Climate Change Specialist, Lorie Rufo, believes that the Zambia PPCR gender-equality project was effective because, “It was a genuine and organic program that was flexible to country-specific needs and customs. It built off an already established female culture and served as a catalyst to further advance gender equality through inclusion and decision making.”
For Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist at The World Bank and Zambia Project Team Leader, Iretomiwa Olatunji, providing support to local communities through PPCR projects is a critical step for effective resilience measures. Helping small towns and villages think about long-term solutions and providing them with access to proper resources is necessary for successful community projects.
“Our project office works hard to have inclusive stakeholder consultations that are open and engaging with women who are community leaders and caregivers for the most vulnerable communities. 30% of PPCR grants support women community engagement and 50%-70% of project leads were women, because we know their involvement means more thoughtful and prosperous projects.”
Chitembo K. Chunga is the government implementing unit task team leader and a CIF PPCR focal point in Zambia. Her work is focused on improving the institutional capacity building of the government to engage with local communities and connect them to provincial admins, line ministries, and policy makers. She discussed an efficacious project where PPCR financed a project in Barose that provided women with the means to grow and sell mushrooms. Once PPCR funding ended, it connected the women with government climate financing, which was able to provide market connections for the women and create continued income for the families and community.
“We’ve seen some great results and I believe with more capacity building at the district level we can ensure a long-term power-balance,” says Chunga, "The integration of gender issues in projects at sub-district levels is critical. And when we make gender-equal institutional changes it is inclusive and benefits everyone.”
Private sector investments can also help with a gender power balance in resilience projects. In Tajikistan, CIF partners with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where private sector led climate adaptation investments supported 345,059 women by integrating gender considerations in their design and implementation. Climate financing provided women with agricultural sector loans improving their social and economic standing. By working with local institutions and staying flexible to women’s specific needs, private investments were able to introduce new credit lines and improve access to markets.
Tajikistan Microdeposit Organisation Loan Officer Mr. Rahmiddin Khidirov says, “Building capacity and providing equal access to financing for women boosts participation at both national and local levels. In Tajikistan, we were able to definitively see that when women are given access to climate loans and green markets they contribute to economic and social empowerment for their entire community.”
Building on these experiences, CIF is aiming for more comprehensive and systemic approach to women climate leadership in the new programs.
Kolybashkina says, “New programs present an opportunity and we’re looking at the big picture for women’s climate leadership now. We will be working with the MDBs and national stakeholders to identify and address structural, institutional, and normative barriers to equal participation of women long-term, and develop solutions to address them. In prioritizing leadership, we acknowledge women as crucial agents of climate action.”
