NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday appealed for concerted efforts to bridge gender gap in order to boost response to climate change globally.
Amanda Serumaga, UNDP resident representative to Kenya, said that climate change commitments can be realized faster if the countries fully tap into contribution of the female gender.
"The participation of women in all development policies and plans at local, national and global level allows them to contribute to climate resilience," Serumaga said in Nairobi while addressing a forum on mainstreaming gender in national climate actions.
She urged delegates from 17 countries who are meeting in Nairobi to share the lessons and experience emerging as they integrate gender into the implementation of climate change programs and initiatives.
Serumaga said that UNDP is supporting national partners to adopt practices that include a holistic view of gender.
"We have earmarked 3 billion U.S. dollars for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in over 140 countries to transition toward low-emission and climate-resilient sustainable development," said Serumaga.
She said multilateral institutions have been responding to climate change in the framework of sustainable development, through a broad range of adaptation and mitigation actions.
Serumaga said that investing in women's leadership will enhance their participation in efforts to boost climate resilience among countries.
"UNDP is committed to the development of ideas that help to address climate change and gender equality at the national level and through the implementation of NDCs," said Serumaga..
UNDP through its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) supported program is currently piloting the integration of gender equality considerations into countries' climate action plans as outlined in the Paris climate deal.
"As an on-going process, review of countries' climate action plans provides a valuable entry point for integrating gender equality considerations, through identification of gender data gaps, improvement of coordination mechanisms and development of gender indicators," Serumaga said.
The three-day conference is being attended by delegates from countries including Chile, Ghana, and Philippines.
Mohamed Elmi, Kenya's chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, said that the integration of gender issues in NDCs will ensure gender responsive NDC actions that will lead to the rapid achievement of the long-term development vision.
"The over dependence on natural resources has exposed women in developing countries to climate change effects that further exacerbates gender inequalities as they continue to face loss of land, livelihoods and security as climate change impacts increase," said Elmi.
The Nairobi forum will provide a platform for delegates to share experiences, lessons learned and way forward on gender-responsive NDC planning and implementation and help influence institutional frameworks and coordination mechanisms, national planning and implementation of climate change policies.