The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region provides food and livelihood for 60 million people living along its coast. Women play an equally invaluable role as men in supporting their communities reap economic benefits and make crucial contributions to the fisheries sector, household livelihoods and ecosystem management.
In Madagascar for example, women are members of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), where more than 50 per cent serve as leaders. At the Baraka Makongeni fish farm in coastal Kenya, women oversee mangrove nurseries and manage small ponds to sustainably harvest fish. In Zanzibar, Tanzania, approximately 15,000 women farm seaweed, harvesting about 11,000 tons per year.
Women also significantly influence decision making processes and ocean governance in different sectors, from academia to business to civil society. Whether it is becoming the first woman to take charge of a South African naval ship; being the first female marine pilot in Kenya; serving as heads of State departments; or performing ground-breaking scientific research, it is clear that women are trailblazing in the frontiers of ocean governance.
Associations such as the Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa (WOMESA), supported by the African Union among others, are molding women to become sea cadets, lead port operations, captains of ships, expand their roles in shipping, fishing and other sectors of the marine industry.
Yet, UN Environment Programme and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa note:
“contributions of women in oceans governance have been routinely ignored or underestimated in research, management and policy.”
Thus stronger actions towards gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in ocean-related sectors is essential to achieve Sustainable Goals 5 - Gender Equality and 14 - Life Below Water, as well as the African Union’s Decade of Women’s Empowerment under Agenda 2063 (2015-2025).
The SAPPHIRE project (implemented by UNDP and executed by the Nairobi Convention Secretariat with the funding support of the GEF) aims to achieve effective long-term ecosystem management in the WIO large marine ecosystems (LMEs) through the active and equitable involvement of women and youth, as well as through raising the ratio of women in decision-making positions in common interest groups.
There is a growing need to equip women in the WIO region with leadership skills for better advocacy, management, and for policy development. Leadership skills are necessary to formulate informed policies critical to the sustainable oceans governance in the WIO region.
In this vein, the SAPPHIRE project has organized a training workshop on Leadership - Renewal for Women Senior Officials and Policy Makers in Marine Policy and Ocean Governance in WIO Region - in Mombasa, Kenya on 4 – 6 December 2019. The training will reinforce their contributions as champions and influencers of policy formulation and decision making in sustainable oceans governance.
The SAPPHIRE project recognizes that concerted, coordinated efforts will be essential to take full advantage of women’s unique viewpoints and contributions. To this end, SAPPHIRE activities on harmonizing and reforming policies and institutions, will continue to support country efforts to expand women’s role in ocean governance, the blue economy, and beyond.
For more information on this programme, please contact Sinikinesh Jimma or visit the project profile.
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