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Empowering women for sustainable coastal management

By IW:LEARN

March 26^th, 2024

The urgency to achieve gender equality and enhance women's well-being cannot be overstated in any domain, including sustainable coastal development. As the International Women's Day 2024, "Invest in women: Accelerate progress", underscores the imperative to close gender gaps across various domains, the Mediterranean Coast Day underlines the essential role of women in advancing sustainable coastal development. Under the banner of this year’s theme “Women's Wave for Coastal Sustainability”, the main event will take place on 25 September in Algeria as part of the Child Project 2.1 “Mediterranean Coastal Zones: Water Security, Climate Resilience and Habitat Protection” under the GEF-UNEP MedProgramme.

The Need for Gender Sensitivity

Women’s contributions to coastal and marine management, policy and research have historically been underestimated (UNEP, 2019). According to the SoED report (2020), the gender gap presents a pressing challenge in the Mediterranean region, with disparities ranging from 20 to 43%, far exceeding the global average of 31%. Political empowerment of women lags significantly behind, hindering progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030, particularly Goal 5 on Gender Equality. Climate change further exacerbates these inequalities and highlights the need for improved sex-disaggregated data collection and gender-sensitive coastal plans, as demonstrated by gender-sensitive assessments conducted in Kotor Bay in Montenegro and Tangier-Tetouan-Al-Hoceima region in Morocco (GEF-UNEP MedProgramme). This particularly refers to water management, as women and girls are mainly responsible for water collection in vulnerable communities with water-deprived households.

“From Source to Sea”

The 2023 edition of the Mediterranean Coast Day was dedicated to coastal aquifers precisely to address their importance as the primary freshwater source for drinking, agriculture, and industries, and for climate change adaptation. As global temperatures and sea levels rise, coastal aquifers help protect coastal communities and ecosystems by acting as natural buffers and serving as natural freshwater storage systems. These key resources hidden beneath our coast also support unique and diverse ecosystems, such as estuaries which are particularly important for coastal populations. Notably, pollution from rivers and wastewater discharges originating from urban and industrial sources remains a significant contributor to the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea. Studies suggest that 80% of the Mediterranean pollution stems from three primary point sources in the coastal zone: wastewater, municipal solid wastes and industrial pollution.

Several management approaches have been developed over the last decades to address anthropogenic impacts on the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. This includes Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as a dynamic and participatory process for sustainable management of coastal zones and resources, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and more recently, coastal aquifer and groundwater management.

Policy vs. Practice

However, women are often left out of the conversation on sustainable coastal management. Reflecting this year’s theme of World Water Day “Water for Peace”, which highlights the staggering fact that 153 countries have territory within at least 1 of the 310 transboundary river and lake basins and inventoried 468 transboundary aquifer systems (UN-Water, 2023), women are nearly invisible in transboundary water management and decision-making processes (Fauconnier et al, 2018).

In January 1992, the International Conference on Water and Environment in Dublin recognised the essential role of women in water management and the need for their participation at all levels in water resources programmes. More than three decades later not much has changed. A study conducted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2019 showed that 61% of countries support women’s participation in natural resource management as a matter of policy, but fewer than half provide targeted support to enable participation in practice. This clearly illustrates the gap between policy and implementation, not to mention that women are severely underrepresented in water ministries worldwide. Initiatives like the Women in Water Diplomacy Network promote women’s participation in high-level water diplomacy processes, but integration of gender equality is not consistent across SDGs, as indicated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme.

Moving Forward with Gender Equality

To bridge the gap between policy and practice, governments must prioritize gender-responsive financing and increase investments in essential services and social protection to address women's needs and priorities adequately. Policymakers should also acknowledge the role women play in economies worldwide and environmental conservation efforts such as Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). By referring to gender equality as a fundamental aspect across all ICZM activities and collecting gender-disaggregated data, as prioritized within the MEDProgramme, we can enhance their effectiveness and longevity.

As we navigate the impacts of climate change, let's ensure that women's voices and needs are at the forefront of sustainable coastal management in the Mediterranean, leading the way to coastal resilience.

About the project

The Mediterranean Sea Programme (MedProgramme), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and launched in 2020, is dedicated to enhancing environmental security across ten countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. Led by the UNEP/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) with support from UNEP and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the MedProgramme collaborates with reputable partners such as UNESCO/IHP, European Investment Bank (EIB), IUCN Med, GWP Med, WWF Med, Plan Bleu, PAP/RAC, SCP/RAC, and SPA/RAC.

This initiative aims to alleviate major transboundary environmental stresses in coastal regions while bolstering climate resilience, ensuring water security, and enhancing the well-being of coastal communities. Emphasizing gender mainstreaming, the MedProgramme strives for equitable environmental management that benefits both women and men.

Building upon previous endeavors like the MedPartnership, ClimVar, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) GEF projects, the MedProgramme leverages enriched knowledge and understanding of the Mediterranean environment. It comprises eight Child Projects designed to deliver complementary outcomes, aligned with the priorities identified in the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) for the Mediterranean Sea. A detailed list of all Child Projects and the executing partners is available on the UNEP/MAP website.

The Mediterranean Coast Day celebration is an integral component of Child Project 2.1 titled “Mediterranean Coastal Zones: Water Security, Climate Resilience and Habitat Protection”. The project is executed by PAP/RAC, the Regional Activity Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP), which supports Mediterranean countries on their path towards sustainable coastal development. With the backing of UNEP/MAP, the Centre has incorporated gender equality as a core component across all its activities, including the implementation of Child Project 2.1 under the GEF MedProgramme framework.